Using savings to sell drugs, sentenced to 20 years in prison

Having saved up 130 million VND, Nguyen Van Lap decided to trade drugs to make quick profits. As a result, Lap was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

On the morning of September 20, the Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of Nguyen Van Lap (born in 1993), residing in Block 4, Tay Son town, Huong Son, Ha Tinh, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

According to the indictment, at around 4:00 a.m. on March 19, 2016, Nguyen Van Lap traveled from Ha Tinh to Kim Son town, Que Phong district (Nghe An) to buy drugs for a man named Truong in Hanoi.

Defendant Nguyen Van Lap

Upon arrival, Lap met a man named Danh and bought a heroin cake from Danh for 130 million VND. After receiving the goods, Lap stamped himself and then took a bus to Vinh City.

When Lap was driving back to Nghia Xuan commune, Quy Hop district, he was discovered and arrested by the Nghe An Provincial Police working group. The forensic examination report of the Provincial Police's Criminal Techniques Department determined that the white powder seized from Nguyen Van Lap was heroin weighing 349.11 grams.

At the trial, Nguyen Van Lap confessed to his crime and said he took the risk because he was in need. Although he used the excuse of “being in need”, Lap said that the 130 million VND he used to buy the drugs was money he had saved. Previously, in 2011, Nguyen Van Lap was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the People’s Court of Ha Tinh province for theft. Lap has completed his sentence but his criminal record has not been cleared.

The panel of judges determined that Nguyen Van Lap's crime was dangerous, violated the State's monopoly on drug management, and was a case of recidivism... After comprehensively reviewing the case, the panel of judges sentenced Nguyen Van Lap to 20 years in prison.

Nhu Binh