Young man crosses the forest to 'carry' opium back to Vietnam
(Baonghean.vn) - When hired by two fellow countrymen to "carry" drugs from Laos to Vietnam, Thoong Dam Kham Vieng Xay immediately agreed. However, before he could receive his payment, he was arrested.
On January 16, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of Thoong Dam Kham Vieng Xay (24 years old), residing in Phieng Hong village, Bo Nhia village cluster, Noong Het district, Xieng Khouang province (Laos) for the crime of "Illegal transportation of drugs".
According to the defendant's testimony at the trial, on the morning of August 25, 2019, two Lao men named Xinh Thoong and Pa Dinh came to Vieng Xay's house to hire him to transport drugs to Vietnam to deliver to a man named Thanh for 1,500,000 Kip. When the delivery was completed, he would pay the fee. Vieng Xay agreed.
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| Defendant Vieng Xay. Photo: Tran Vu |
After that, Xinh Thoong gave Vieng Xay a package of opium resin, Pa Dinh gave Vieng Xay 26 packages of pink opium, and gave Thanh's phone number. After receiving the drugs, Vieng Xay transported the "goods" through illegal channels to Vietnam.
On the way, Thanh called Vieng Xay and told him he was waiting in a pickup truck on the road in Keng Du commune (Ky Son district). At around 12 noon the same day, discovering the blue pickup truck as instructed, Vieng Xay brought the package of drugs to open the door to get in the car but was discovered and arrested by the Vietnamese Border Guard. The people in the car drove away. The seized evidence was 1 package of drugs (opium resin) weighing 1,000 grams and 26 packages of drugs weighing 526.75 grams.
At the trial, through an interpreter, the defendant admitted to the crime. The defendant said that due to lack of knowledge, he agreed to “carry” drugs from Laos to Vietnam. “If I had known that Vietnamese law would be so strict, I would not have done it,” Vieng Xay said, adding that he had not received any payment.
The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions were dangerous to society. Drugs are prohibited substances and are strictly punished by Vietnamese law for those who violate them. For the act of “Illegally transporting drugs”, Thoong Dam Kham Vieng Xay was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
