A month of tracking a drug dealer who carries a gun for 'self-defense'

(Baonghean.vn) - On the rare occasion that Vi Vong Xa delivered goods without a gun in hand, 10 detectives broke down the door and rushed in to control him.

On December 25, Thanh Chuong District Police (Nghe An) prosecuted Vi Vong Xa (49 years old, Ta Xieng village, Ngoc Lam commune) for two crimes of "Illegal drug trading and possession" and "Possession of military weapons". Xa was arrested 10 days ago while selling drugs to addicts at home.

As the direct commander in the arrest, Major Tran Van Hung - Deputy Chief of Thanh Chuong District Police, said that to catch this "white death" trafficker in the act, the unit spent more than a month secretly monitoring him.

“Xa often carried a K54 gun on his person, while our principle is that the gun must be removed from the subject’s hand before we can arrest him. This is to ensure the safety of the scouts,” Major Hung shared with reporters from Nghe An Newspaper.

Vi Vong Xa at the police station. Photo: Tien Hung.

Xa is a Thai ethnic, formerly living in Tuong Duong district. In 2006, when being relocated to build Ban Ve hydropower plant, Xa and many other households resettled in Ngoc Lam commune. Previously, he had a criminal record for illegal drug possession. He had only completed his sentence more than two years ago.

“He was a serious drug addict, his wife went to Laos to work, leaving only their only son at home. He was also a drug addict,” Major Tran Van Hung said about Xa’s family situation. That’s why, right after being released from prison, instead of starting a new life, Vi Vong Xa continued to slide down the path of crime. Because he used to live in Tuong Duong, which was the capital of drugs, Xa seemed to know all the criminal activities in this area.

Xa and his father did not have a single job. To earn money to live and meet his drug needs, Xa traveled more than 100 km back to his hometown many times to find a source of drug supply. He went to Luong Minh commune, one of the drug hotspots in Tuong Duong, from there he found his way to Laos to buy drugs and then divided them into small quantities to sell for profit. To fight against the authorities in case he was discovered, Xa bought a K54 gun and seemed to always carry it with him.

Xa’s drug customers are mainly young people living in Ngoc Lam commune. More than a month ago, Xa’s drug retail network was discovered by Thanh Chuong district police. A reconnaissance team was immediately assigned to secretly monitor Xa’s every move.

Guns seized from Xa. Photo. Tien Hung.

"According to the information reported by the reconnaissance team, Xa is an arrogant, reckless person, ready to shoot back at the authorities, so we carried out the capture plan very carefully," said the head of the investigation team, Tran Van Hung, adding that Xa's "henchmen" system in Ngoc Lam commune was also very large, so the reconnaissance activities took place very secretly.

After more than a month of surveillance, at noon on December 15, a team of 10 scouts led by Major Tran Van Hung secretly surrounded Vi Vong Xa's house. This was the time when Xa had just brought "goods" from across the border to retail to drug addicts. However, during the transaction, Xa still had a K54 in his hand, so the scouts could not attack.

Persistently monitoring for more than two hours, on a rare occasion when Xa put down his gun, 10 detectives simultaneously broke down the door and rushed in to control Xa and the addicts. Searching the suspect's person and house, the task force seized two packages of drugs containing more than 30 grams of crystal meth, 5.32 grams of heroin, a K54 gun with 3 bullets, a knife... In this gun, one bullet was loaded.

At the police station, the 49-year-old man confessed that he went to the mountainous district of Tuong Duong that morning to buy two packages of drugs for 20 million VND, then brought them home to hide, with the intention of using them and selling them for profit. To avoid detection by the authorities, after taking the goods home, Xa buried the drugs under the floor of the house.

Tien Hung