A group of young men loaded a truck full of firecrackers and drugs to transport to Nghe An.
(Baonghean.vn) - Listening to Phuong, the group of 3 subjects Thang, Thinh, Thanh loaded the contraband and transported it to Vietnam. While the group of hired workers were arrested, the boss was still in Laos and wanted.
On October 29, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of Vo Duc Thang (born 1994), residing in Dien Lien commune (Dien Chau) for the crime of ""Trading in prohibited goods"and “Illegal possession of narcotics”; Nguyen Tan Thinh (born in 1996), residing in Dien Ky commune (Dien Chau) and Thai Huu Thanh (born in 1990), residing in Tang Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) were both prosecuted for the crime of “Trafficking in prohibited goods”.
According to the investigation agency's documents, at about 11:45 p.m. on January 4, 2020, Nguyen Canh Phuong (born in 1974), residing in Dien Lien commune, along with Thang, Thinh, Thanh and a number of others, boarded a passenger bus to Laos.
 |
| 3 defendants in court. Photo: Tran Vu |
After arriving at the border gate and completing customs procedures, at 4:00 p.m. on January 5, the passenger van driven by Thang arrived at a Lao warehouse about 3 km from the border marker between Xieng Khouang and Luang Prabang provinces. Here, under the direction of Phuong, Thanh, Thinh and Thang unloaded goods (pots, pans, woks) from the passenger van onto the warehouse floor. After that, the three of them loaded wood and firecrackers onto the homemade bunker at the rear and belly of the passenger van.
During the process of loading and unloading fireworks and wood, Phuong did not clearly state the origin of the goods and the purpose of transporting them to Vietnam. However, when loading and unloading them into the truck's hold, the carton boxes had to be torn open, so Thang, Thanh, and Thinh knew that the boxes werecannon.
Before returning to Vietnam, on the morning of January 7, Thang bought 3 pills of drugs and put them in his pocket to use. At 6 p.m. the same day, the subjects boarded a passenger bus to complete departure procedures to return to Vietnam. Arriving at the Lao border gate, after completing customs procedures, Phuong and Thanh got off the bus and returned to Laos.
At 1 p.m. the same day, when the vehicle arrived at Khanh Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), the Yen Thanh district police checked and discovered 468 boxes of firecrackers weighing 555 kg; 3 drug pills weighing 0.255 grams; 700 clove wood sticks (weighing 2.38956 m3); 4 legs of a bear; 1 skeleton of a bear; 2 leopards.
Thinh and Thang were arrested. Thanh later returned to Vietnam from Laos to surrender.
At the trial, the defendants admitted to all crimes. The defendants said they acted under Phuong’s instructions. At first, the defendants did not know that the goods were prohibited, but after lining up, they discovered that the goods contained fireworks, wood, etc.
The People's Court sentenced Vo Duc Thang to 9 months in prison for "Illegal possession of narcotics" and 30 months in prison for "Trading in prohibited goods"; sentenced Thai Huu Thanh to 2 years and 6 months in prison and Nguyen Tan Thinh to 2 years in prison, both for "Trading in prohibited goods".
Yen Thanh District Police Investigation Agency has prosecuted and issued a wanted notice for Nguyen Canh Phuong for the crime of "Trading in prohibited goods".
