Young man hollowed out cabbage to hide drugs

Murder on New Year's Day

Nghe An Provincial People's Court has just opened a trial on the charges of "Disturbing public order" and "Illegal possession of narcotics"; defendant Le Van Dung (25 years old), residing in Hanh Dich commune, Que Phong district, was charged with "Murder". Defendants Ha Van Dong (30 years old), Lu Van Dat (30 years old) and Vi Van Nghia (19 years old), all residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, were prosecuted for "Disturbing public order".

The indictment stated that on the evening of December 31, 2022, after drinking alcohol, Dung and three friends invited each other to Kim Son town to hang out and drink milk tea. When they reached the town area, Dung met a friend and stopped to talk.

At the same time, Dung saw a girl named K. (21 years old) passing by, and he knew her a little, so he greeted her. The girl politely reached out to shake her hand. This action was seen by Ha Van Dong (K.'s lover), who was drinking nearby. Dong thought that Dung was teasing and flirting with his girlfriend, so he went out to cause trouble.

Although Dung affirmed that K. was an acquaintance, not a tease, and hoped for forgiveness if he did anything wrong, Dong still caused trouble. Seeing this, Dong's group of friends who were drinking nearby ran out to stop them and pulled them into the bar.

When Dung started the engine and was about to leave, Dong approached and kicked the victim in the head. Dung ran away, Dong chased after him. At this time, Dong's drinking buddies including Luong Van B., Hai, Dat, and Nghia ran after Dung to beat him.

Being caught up by Dong's group and beaten up by a gang, Le Van Dung pulled out a switchblade from his pocket and stabbed randomly forward. As a result, Luong Van B. was stabbed twice in the chest and back and died at the hospital.

After committing the crime, Dung panicked, threw away the weapon and ran to the hill to hide. Early the next morning, realizing that his actions were wrong, Dung went to the police station to surrender and confess his crime. This young man also influenced the victim's family to compensate the victim's family 40 million VND.

Carving cabbage to hide drugs

After participating in the fight, because of his injuries, Luong Van Hai was banned from leaving his place of residence. A few days later, due to his drug addiction, on the afternoon of March 3, Hai took a bus to Tri Le commune, Que Phong district to buy more than 29 grams of drugs (worth 2.8 million VND) for use.

On the way home, Hai bought 2 cabbages and picked up a white styrofoam box on the side of the road. When he got home, he used a knife to cut open the cabbage and put drugs wrapped in plastic inside. Hai continued to put the drugs disguised in the cabbage in a styrofoam box and took it to his friend's house.

On the way, Hai was arrested by the police and asked to check the styrofoam box. At first, Luong Van Hai was very confident, saying that he was a sipper, transporting cabbage to deliver to customers. However, the reconnaissance force quickly exposed the subject's deceitful behavior when opening the styrofoam box, inside were 2 fresh cabbages.

One by one, the outer leaves were peeled off, revealing two small plastic bags containing synthetic drug pills. Counting, the authorities recorded a total of 284 pink pills. Only then did Hai bow his head and admit that he had bought drugs for use.

At the trial, defendant Hai stated that because of his addiction, he continued to buy drugs even while on bail. “The defendant came up with the trick of carving up cabbages and putting drugs inside to fool the police. Because he was addicted, he only bought drugs for his own use, not for sale. During his time in detention, the defendant realized that his actions were wrong. I ask the court to consider reducing his sentence,” Hai stated in court.

The other defendants also confessed to their crimes. Defendant Dung said he did not know Dong’s group. When the group chased and beat him for no reason, he lost control of himself and stabbed randomly, resulting in death.

During the questioning and debate at the trial, the panel of judges determined that in this case, Ha Van Dong and his group of friends were partly at fault. As for Luong Van B., although he did not know Dung and had no conflict with him, he still chased and beat him. The cause of Dung's crime was also due to the victim's illegal actions. Considering the entire case, the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced defendant Le Van Dung to 7 years in prison for "Murder".

For the crime of "Disturbing public order", Ha Van Dong was sentenced to 3 years in prison; defendants Lu Van Dat and Vi Van Nghia were each sentenced to 6 months in prison.

As for defendant Luong Van Hai, he received a total sentence of 7 years and 6 months in prison. Of which, 7 years in prison for "Illegal possession of narcotics" and 6 months in prison for "Disturbing public order".