The heartache of a mother whose son has a terminal illness but still relapses into drug trafficking

One day in the first half of May, Ms. Tran Thi Thai, residing in Chau Phong commune, Quy Chau district, packed a few sets of clothes to catch a bus to Vinh city to visit her son, who was a defendant in the case of illegal drug trafficking being tried by the People's Court of Nghe An province.

Luong Van Tan (born in 1997 - Mrs. Thai's son) was originally a gentle, hard-working young man. But then, he fell into drug addiction. Mrs. Thai only learned about this in 2017 when her son was arrested for illegal possession of drugs. That year, Tan was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison for illegal possession of drugs.

Defendant Luong Van Tan. Photo: Tran Vu

Luong Van Tan then served his sentence in a prison in Ha Tinh. During his time there, Tan fainted and was taken to the hospital for examination. At this time, the doctor discovered that Tan had congenital anemia. It was from here that Mrs. Thai's family learned that their son had this disease. This is a difficult disease to cure, people with the disease are often thin due to anemia, have pale skin, and eat little. Currently, the only way to maintain it is to have blood transfusions and take medicine for life.

Worried, she could only encourage her son to eat and drink during visits. When her son was released from prison, the family took Tan to Hanoi for examination and treatment. When the family's money ran out, the need to take him for regular check-ups gradually decreased.

Having stumbled once, the family always hoped that Tan would rebuild his life and stabilize his health. Therefore, the news that Luong Van Tan was arrested again for drug-related crimes shocked Mrs. Thai and her relatives even more. Accordingly, on February 18, 2020, Tan received an offer to buy drugs from another person. This young man nodded in agreement and then went to Tri Le commune (Que Phong district) to buy "goods" from a man named May for 16 million VND. After that, Tan brought them home to store for later use and resell for profit. Two days later, when a customer contacted him to buy drugs, Tan took his mother's motorbike to deliver the goods. However, when he just arrived at Chau Cuong commune (Quy Hop district), he was arrested by the authorities, along with evidence of more than 34 grams of heroin.

On the day of the trial, Ms. Thai came to court as a person related to the vehicle Tan used to commit the crime. She stated that she did not know that her son used the motorbike to deliver drugs, so she asked the court to return the motorbike, which was also her major asset.

During the trial, she also heard all the crimes her son confessed to. Her son’s statement that he “trafficking drugs to get money to treat anemia” made Mrs. Thai’s heart heavy with sadness.

She said that at the end of 2019, after reintegrating into life for a while, Tan went to China to work. However, because he had just returned from medical treatment, his body was swollen, so the employer did not hire him. After returning to Vietnam, this young man continued to follow his friends to the South to work as a construction worker. But after a while, Tan returned home because the job was unstable. In his hometown, jobs were scarce and people were numerous, so it was difficult for Tan to find a suitable job.

However, she always encouraged her son to try harder. This mother always hoped that her son would become a good person after his failure. But then, her son reoffended, which made her very sad, but in court she still held back and encouraged her son to reform.

Seeing his mother, Tan was embarrassed and apologized, promising to reform himself to return home soon to take care of his parents. The defendant expressed remorse for his crime and asked the jury to reduce his sentence.

Seeing his mother, defendant Tan was embarrassed and apologized. Photo: Tran Vu

For the crime of illegal drug trafficking, Luong Van Tan was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The motorbike that Tan used to commit the crime was returned to Ms. Thai.

Her son left the court in a covered truck, and the miserable mother could only watch silently. Besides the 15-year sentence, what she was worried about was the illness Tan was carrying. She could only say, “I hope my son has enough health and reforms well to return…”