The salty tears of a young man who buried his youth in drugs

The court was quiet.

The court session on the morning of June 10 was deserted, except for the panel of judges and the police officers escorting him, there was only defendant Nguyen Van Cong (born 1991, residing in Quan Hanh town, Nghi Loc, Nghe An) and his young wife.

Cong's wife was thin and haggard, standing at the back of the courtroom, waiting for her husband and looking after their 20-month-old child. Relatives and siblings were probably fed up with waiting for Cong to be convicted in court, so no one showed up. There was only one acquaintance who came along to look after the child while Cong's wife entered the courtroom. This person was never seen entering the courtroom even once.

Defendant Nguyen Van Cong. Photo: Nhu Binh

Being the only son in a family of two sisters, perhaps because of the red birthmark covering most of the right side of his face, Cong only studied until 8th grade and then dropped out. The young man's life began to slide downhill with his friends from the countryside.

At the age of 18, Cong received his first sentence, 12 months in prison for “Robbery”. The first “fall” in his life did not make the young man wake up, in May 2010, Cong was released from prison. At the age of 19, not understanding the world, and having the “fate” of being released from prison, Cong continued to indulge in debauchery and became addicted to drugs.

In mid-2012, Nguyen Van Cong was sentenced by the People’s Court of Nghe An province to 24 months in prison for “Illegal possession of narcotics”. After being released from prison, Cong “played bigger” by selling drugs in retail, earning both money and drugs to use. This time, in return, he was sentenced to 2 years and 2 months in prison for “Illegal drug trafficking” in April 2014.

From 2015 to 2018, Cong's family had a rare period of peace when his "noble son" was not involved with the law. However, Cong still could not quit drugs, and his addiction became more and more serious. The happy days were short-lived, in March 2018, Cong's criminal record was supplemented with a 13-month prison sentence for "Illegal possession of narcotics".

Due to his good behavior, Cong was released from prison 4 months early. Apparently "tired of going to prison" and determined to start a new life, Cong got married. Cong's wife lived nearby and was 1 year younger. Of course, the "label" of going to prison like going to the market for Cong was not easy to convince his in-laws, but in the end, overcoming many obstacles, the two still came together.

"Old habits die hard"

However, the dream of settling down with a family would not make Cong cultivate himself. When his wife was about to give birth, Cong was arrested and continued to receive a 12-month prison sentence for "Illegal possession of narcotics". In April 2020, Cong was released from prison when his son was already half a year old.

“Looking at my son and my resigned wife, I told myself many times to give up drugs, but I couldn’t do it,” Cong bowed his head while talking to reporters while waiting for the jury to deliberate.

Apart from a thick record of prison sentences, Cong had nothing, so it was not easy to find a job. Eventually, Cong was able to get a job at a karaoke shop in Vinh city with a salary of 12 million VND. Actually, for a normal person, this income is enough to cover the minimum expenses of a family of 3. But for Cong, it was not enough because every day he had to spend 700,000-800,000 VND on drugs.

“My wife opened a small hair washing shop. We support ourselves and my child. I don’t bring any money home,” Cong’s voice broke at this confession.

Nguyen Van Cong was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the People's Court of Nghe An province for committing a dangerous recidivism. Photo: Tran Vu

In December 2020, Cong was offered cheap drugs by a friend, so he agreed to pay 28 million VND to get them. Cong brought the remaining drugs back to hide in a motel for later use. On the afternoon of December 23, 2020, when he had just hidden the remaining drugs (224g) in a tree stump, he was discovered and arrested by the police.

He came forward because he saw the drugs being sold for less than the market price, so he thought of buying them for his own use. However, he could not explain where he got the money to buy the drugs.

When the court entered the courtroom for deliberation, Cong's wife brought her young child into the courtroom so that father and son could meet. Although Cong called out to him many times, the child hardly responded. "Normally, when I see my father's picture on my phone, I still call him 'Dad,' but he must have looked so strange here that he didn't recognize me," Cong's wife explained.

In fact, the amount of time Cong lived and was close to his child was not enough to leave a deep image in the immature memory of a 2-year-old child.

I asked Cong what he thought about the price he had to pay, he bent down and whispered: “I’m afraid that when I get out of prison, my parents will be gone. My child is still so young, my wife had to overcome many obstacles to marry me, I’m afraid that if I go to prison, the burden and pressure on her shoulders will be too great. I heard that due to the complicated Covid-19 epidemic, the hair salon had to close, I don’t know how she and her child will survive.” Two tears fell from the corner of Cong’s eyes…

With a bad personal history and a dangerous recidivism, Nguyen Van Cong was sentenced by the People's Court of Nghe An province to 20 years in prison. Whether 20 years is enough for Cong to give up drugs or not, perhaps only Cong himself knows.

Being led out of the courtroom, Cong looked back and said, “I will try to raise our children…”. Cong’s wife stood still, holding her small child and nodded slightly.

That emaciated, frail woman, not yet 30 years old, would have enough strength to withstand the storms of life to raise her children and wait for her husband?