Life-or-death battles in the jungle

The line between life and death

Western Nghe An is a preferred transit, storage, and distribution point for drug traffickers due to several factors: it has a history of opium cultivation, serves as a drug smuggling route from Laos, and shares a 419 km land border with three Lao provinces: Hua Phan, Xieng Khouang, and Bolikhamsai.

Besides international border crossings, Vietnam and Laos also have many trails and unofficial border crossings. Taking advantage of the rugged mountainous terrain, the low level of education and limited legal awareness of the people in the border areas, and the frequent cross-border trade and visits to relatives, drug traffickers have secretly bought, sold, and transported large quantities of "white powder" (heroin) across the border into Nghe An province.

Western Nghe An border area. Photo: Google Maps

In the relentless war against those who "spread the white death," there have been confrontations, even life-or-death clashes, between law enforcement and drug criminals. Returning not long after successfully dismantling Case 918C in Tuong Duong district with his colleagues, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Dinh Vinh – Deputy Head of the Criminal Investigation Department for Drug Crimes of the Nghe An Provincial Police – still cannot forget the moment of the shootout with the extremely dangerous wanted fugitive Lo Van Thi.

Known as the "drug kingpin" in the area, Lo Van Thi, born in 1963, residing in Dua village, Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district, gathered under his command dozens of loyal henchmen—drug addicts ready to sacrifice themselves for him. This kingpin built many camps on high mountains, equipped with firearms—to organize drug trafficking and supply drugs to hundreds of addicts.

Under the direction of the Provincial Police leadership, officers and soldiers from the Drug Crime Investigation Department and the Tuong Duong District Police surrounded and launched an armed attack on the gang led by Thi. However, Thi and his accomplices fiercely resisted. It took many hours for the detectives to reach Thi's camp and arrest him.

Drug kingpin Luong Van Thi and seized evidence. Photo: Minh Tam

As for Lieutenant Nguyen Van Lam, an officer of the Criminal, Economic, and Narcotics Police Team of Tuong Duong District Police, although his years of service are relatively short, he has considerable experience in dealing with drug criminals. He has had to take post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) medication for HIV twice, been hit by a grenade once, and has had countless confrontations with drug traffickers involving knives and swords.

The case of Special 1216M, which involved arresting drug kingpin Luong Ba Duy (born in 1986), residing in Yen Na commune, Tuong Duong district, who was carrying firearms, is one example. During the arrest, Lieutenant Lam and his teammates were attacked by Duy and his lover, who scratched and bit them on the shoulder and tried to fire back. Faced with this dangerous situation, he and his teammates bravely overcame the difficulties, subdued Duy, disarmed him, and arrested him, dismantling a particularly dangerous drug trafficking ring led by him.

As a key area for drug trafficking, Que Phong is also a breeding ground for drug kingpins, so the fight against drug crime on this front line is equally fierce.

In August 2016, during the operation to dismantle a drug trafficking ring from Laos to Vietnam in Case 816H, when forces surrounded and apprehended suspects carrying 20 blocks of heroin who had infiltrated from the Lao border into the mountainous forest area of ​​Thong Thu commune, Que Phong district, one suspect suddenly appeared and fired an AK rifle directly at the arresting force. Lieutenant Le Van Tuan, an officer of the Criminal, Economic, and Drug Investigation Team of the Que Phong District Police, was hit by two bullets in the buttocks and left thigh.

In a critical situation, despite being injured, with a courageous spirit and unwavering determination to pursue the crime to the end, Comrade Tuan managed to hold onto one suspect until his colleagues arrived to apprehend him. However, by the time the case concluded, he had to fight for his life and spent months receiving treatment in the hospital.

Drug kingpin Luong Ba Duy and his underground tunnel through the mountain. Photo: Archival material.

Each battle provides the soldiers with invaluable lessons and helps them grow stronger. The biggest concern after each case is how to apprehend criminals while ensuring the absolute safety of the public and the members of the special task force.

Facing danger and enduring life-or-death battles, the soldiers on the front lines of the fight against drug crime have forged qualities of resilience, bravery, and strategic thinking, contributing to the overall victory in the long-term fight against crime.

Lieutenant Le Van Tuan, an officer of the Que Phong District Police, was injured in the life-or-death battle at Operation 816H, where they apprehended suspects carrying 20 blocks of heroin who had infiltrated Que Phong from the Lao border. Photo: Minh Tam

Drug traffickers are always reckless and dangerous. Hiding in towns and mountainous areas along the border, criminal gangs daily find ways to smuggle drugs into Vietnam via countless secret routes. For a long time, law enforcement agencies have organized raids and arrested hundreds of suspects, but as soon as a raid ends, drug trafficking activities surge even more. In particular, the buying, selling, transporting, and using of synthetic drugs continues to increase, and this type of drug is gradually replacing heroin, becoming the main drug used in the country.

In 2019 alone, the anti-drug forces of the Nghe An Provincial Police hadAuthorities arrested 1,189 cases and 1,453 individuals for drug-related crimes.thu67.6 kgheroin,765.6 kgdrugformstone,71.3 kg of MTTH, 1.8 kg of medicine phiện(so với cùng kỳ năm 2018 tăng 135 vụ, 169 đối tượng, lượng ma túy thu giữ, tăng gấp 6,1 lần).

Với quyết tâm từng bước "hạ nhiệt" các điểm nóng về ma túy, nhiều năm qua, dưới sự tấn công quyết liệt của lực lượng chức năng, đến thời điểm hiện nay, tại các khu vực biên giới Nghệ An chỉ còn khoảng dưới 10 tụ điểm mua bán ma túy lớn. Các đối tượng cầm đầu sừng sỏ như Súa, Bi Vàng, Nhìa Y Vàng (đối tượng người Lào), Lầu Giống Lồng và vợ là Hờ Y Cở (trú bản Huồi Thăng, xã Huồi Tụ, Kỳ Sơn); Và Pà Cô (trú xã Bắc Lý, huyện Kỳ Sơn), Và Bá Pó (trú xã Mường Lống, Kỳ Sơn)... lần lượt bị tiêu diệt và bắt giữ.

Các đối tượng Bi Vàng; Hai vợ chồng Lầu Giống Lồng, Hờ Y Cở và tang vật. Ảnh: Tư liệu

Xác định địa bàn Nghệ An rất gần với “Tam giác Vàng” - thủ phủ ma túy lớn, cộng với tình hình ma túy trên dịa bàn diễn biến phức tạp, thực tiễn công tác đấu tranh phòng, chống tội phạm ma túy trên các tuyến biên giới trong những năm gần đây đều có yếu tố nước ngoài, liên quan đến chủ quyền biên giới quốc gia nên quá trình đấu tranh, ngăn chặn cần thiết phải có sự phối hợp giữa các lực lượng 2 bên biên giới.

Vì vậy, lực lượng chức năng Nghệ An đã triển khai đồng bộ, quyết liệt nhiều giải pháp phòng, chống ma túy, nỗ lực, quyết tâm “chặn cung - giảm cầu” ngay trên tuyến biên giới. Trong đó, đặc biệt chú trọng mối quan hệ hợp tác phòng, chống ma túy giữa các lực lượng với lực lượng chức năng nước CHDCND Lào.

Số liệu thống kê từ Văn phòng liên lạc Phòng chống ma túy qua biên giới (BLO) đặt tại huyện Quế Phong, tỉnh Nghệ An (Việt Nam) và huyện Sầm Tớ, tỉnh Hủa Phăn (Lào) cho thấy, từ năm 2013 - 2019, lực lượng phòng, chống ma túy 2 nước đã phối hợp trao đổi thông tin và tổ chức tấn công truy quét vũ trang 5 nhóm đối tượng (có cả người nước ngoài) mang theo vũ khí “nóng” tổ chức mua bán trái phép chất ma túy tại khu vực biên giới.

Authorities dismantled 8 drug trafficking hotspots and 37 complex drug-related locations; detected and arrested over 800 cases and more than 1,000 drug offenders, seizing over 90 kg of various types of drugs and numerous weapons, dangerous tools, and other valuable assets. The two sides also coordinated in providing and exchanging information, successfully solving 20 major cases and arresting 11 particularly dangerous drug fugitives who had been hiding in Laos for many years.

Nghe An police launched an operation to dismantle drug trafficking hotspots along the Vietnam-Laos border in April 2019. Photo: Minh Tam

Despite detecting and arresting many major drug cases, including some involving unprecedented quantities of drugs and handling hundreds of kilograms of various types of narcotics, the supply of drugs from abroad has not been stopped. Furthermore, with the changing and shifting nature of drug crimes, the criminal landscape will become even more complex.

Given the ongoing threat, in the coming period, law enforcement agencies at all levels in Nghe An province need to implement more measures to detect, combat, and strengthen their efforts in this type of crime.