Man in Nghe An tells court he 'bought drugs to cure cancer'

On May 27, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Van Than (born in 1956), residing in Nghi An commune, Vinh city, for two crimes of illegal trading and possession of narcotics, and defendant Tran Van Toan (born in 1996), residing in Muong Noc commune, Que Phong district, for the crime of drug trafficking.drug trafficking

According to investigation documents, around the end of November 2020, Than called Toan to ask him to buy drugs to sell to a man in Vinh City. Toan bought more than 1kg of drugs from a man named Dung (in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district) for 380 million VND. Dung promised to give Toan 15 million VND if he sold the drugs.

Defendant Nguyen Van Than (white shirt) in court. Photo: Tran Vu

The above “goods” were brought by Toan to Than’s house. At about 7:30 p.m. on December 8, 2020, Vinh City Police conducted an administrative inspection of Than’s house and discovered the above drugs.

The investigation agency determined that Nguyen Van Than was responsible for possessing 1.6 grams of drugs and trading more than 1 kg of drugs. Tran Van Toan was responsible for trading more than 1 kg of drugs.

At the trial, defendant Toan admitted to his crime. Defendant Than only admitted to storing drugs to treat cancer. As for the 1 kg of drugs, Than said he did not buy or sell them but was only an intermediary.

The panel of judges determined that although defendant Than did not admit to drug trafficking, based on the investigation documents and defendant Toan's testimony, there was sufficient basis to affirm that the prosecution of the defendant was the right person, the right crime, and the right law.

Considering the case as a whole, the People's Court sentenced Nguyen Van Than to 2 years in prison for Illegal possession of drugs and life in prison for drug trafficking, forcing the defendant to serve a combined sentence of life in prison.

Sentenced defendant Tran Van Toan to life in prison.