Young man asks to receive death penalty so his wife can 'comfortably' remarry.

On September 17, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought defendant Duong Dang Hong, also known as "Hong Dai Ngan" (born 1985), residing in Lam Truong hamlet, Tien Phong commune, Que Phong district, to trial for the crime of "Illegal transportation of narcotics".

Defendant Duong Dang Hong at trial. Photo: An Quynh

According to the defendant’s confession, on March 22, Hong took a bus from Dong Dang town, Cao Loc district, Lang Son province to visit his mother in Tien Phong commune, Que Phong district. On March 24, Hong went to a friend’s house to borrow a motorbike with license plate 37F1 – 162.28 for convenience during his few days in the countryside.

On the morning of March 25, while drinking coffee with a friend, Duong Dang Hong met an acquaintance who asked Hong to transport a quantity of drugs downstream for a salary of 25 million VND. Seeing that the job was easy and the salary was high, Hong did not hesitate to accept the offer with the aim of earning some spending money. When Hong agreed, the man immediately went to the motorbike she was riding, put in a black bag and told Hong to take the goods to Yen Ly intersection (Dien Chau), when arriving at the delivery location, call the phone number on the bag and receive the salary. Hong agreed and left immediately.

At around 2:00 p.m. the same day, while passing through Quy Chau district, seeing Hong acting suspiciously, the traffic police team on patrol and controlling traffic on National Highway 48, passing through Tan Lac town, signaled to stop the vehicle for an administrative check, but Hong suddenly abandoned the vehicle and ran away. However, Duong Dang Hong was immediately controlled and arrested by the police on the spot.

During the inspection of the subject's motorbike, the authorities discovered under the front tire's shock absorber and under the saddle cover 4 plastic bags containing 20 small bags containing more than 4,000 pink and blue tablets suspected of being synthetic drugs; 1 bag of white powder suspected of being heroin; 3 mobile phones; more than 52 million VND in cash and a number of other related exhibits.

Through examination, two types of drugs were seized, heroin and methamphetamine, with a total weight of 1,398.4 grams.

In his final words, the defendant apologized to his mother and wife for failing to fulfill his duties as a son and a husband. At the same time, he asked the court to give him the death penalty so that his wife could "comfortably" remarry.

At the trial, the panel of judges determined: Duong Dang Hong's actions were extremely dangerous, causing great impact to the whole society. Although the defendant himself had 3 previous convictions, he did not know how to start over and build a family. Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel of judges decided to sentence the defendant to life in prison. As for the man who delivered the goods to Hong, because his background and personal information are not yet clear, the investigation will be conducted later.