A family broken by drugs

(Baonghean.vn) -Her husband and eldest son are serving prison sentences for drugs at Dong Son prison (Quang Binh), her addicted daughter is lying in one place waiting for her medicine, and her mother, Lau Y Tong, is facing a sentence for illegal possession of drugs.

The first instance criminal trial of the drug trafficking case against Lau Y Tong (born in 1960, residing in Tien Tieu village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son) took place on a day of pouring rain. In the court, apart from the officers assisting in the execution of the judgment, there was no trace of any of the defendant's relatives. Lau Y Tong sat huddled alone on a chair placed in front of the bar. The defendant's health was not good, so the panel of judges made an exception for Tong to sit throughout the trial. The trial was longer and more difficult than usual because the defendant could not speak Kinh and had to go through an interpreter.

According to the indictment of the Provincial Criminal Police Department, at around 3:30 p.m. on December 20, 2011, the authorities seized 12 plastic bags containing heroin and synthetic drugs from Tong's house. The arrest report was made in the presence of Tong's son and Lau Ba Po, Chief of Nam Can Commune Police, Lau Y Tong's younger brother. At the investigation agency, Tong confessed that he bought the drugs from a Laotian for more than 7 million Lao kip to divide them into small pieces to sell for profit.

Lau Y Tong's family not only had to struggle to make ends meet, but also had to worry about having opium every day to relieve the addiction of her father and son. The burden of worry made the illiterate woman, who could not speak Kinh, blind. Having traveled back and forth to make a living at the border with the Laotians many times, Tong knew that drugs were easier to make money and made more money, so she jumped in. Tong's younger brother was the commune police chief but was powerless because he could not stop the drug whirlwind that had eaten into his family. By the time he had to be a witness for his sister to sign the crime report, it was too late.

Standing in front of the court, what Lau Y Tong was most worried about was his daughter at home, lying in one place waiting for her mother to come home and give her “medicine”. She could only lie there and wait, unable to do anything. At the time he bought drugs from the Laotians, Tong had no money to pay, so when the boss said he would marry his daughter to pay off the drug debt, Tong nodded in agreement without thinking.

When he arrived at court to argue, Tong was informed that his daughter was currently very sick, and that he was in so much pain that he could not stand in front of the bar, so he was given a “special privilege” to sit in the chair. However, at the trial, to deny his guilt, the defendant evaded and insisted that the amount of drugs that the authorities seized in the basket placed at the foot of Tong’s bed was brought there by a Laotian, and not bought by Tong. The statements made at the investigation agency were not made by Tong. When asked the next time, Tong again stated that the above amount of heroin was bought by the defendant to treat his daughter’s illness, and that his daughter was very sick. At times, unable to “argue”, Tong stood up, took off the shirt he was wearing, and sat on the floor to “protest”…

However, with the record of the crime caught in the act witnessed by the defendant's son and younger brother, the Chief of Nam Can Commune Police, and on the other hand, during the investigation and questioning, there was an interpretation of the entire content of the working sessions before Lau Y Tong signed them, the Trial Council determined that prosecuting Lau Y Tong before the law for the crime of "illegal drug trafficking" was the right person and the right crime.

Although Lau Y Tong is an ethnic minority and illiterate, his confession was not sincere and he denied his crime, so he was not entitled to any mitigating circumstances. Therefore, the Trial Panel sentenced Lau Y Tong to 15 years in prison.

Listening to the interpreter translating the court verdict, Lau Y Tong silently lifted her shirt to wipe away her tears. Surely, she was thinking about her 20-year-old daughter lying alone at home…

Ha Linh