Father's tears at drug trafficking son's trial

At the age of 66, Mr. Nguyen Van L. traveled from Nghi Van commune (Nghi Loc) to the city. He was honored to attend the trial of his son - Nguyen Van Tho (born 1992), the defendant in the case brought to trial by the Provincial People's Court for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

Tho is the 4th child out of 8 children of Mr. L and his wife. Although the family is poor and has many children, Tho's parents created conditions for him to have a proper education.

With the hope that their son would have a stable life, the couple encouraged Tho to get married early. In 2016, a warm wedding took place between Tho and a girl born in 1998 from a neighboring village. Not long after, the couple had a baby together. However, that joy did not last long when both sides of the family heard that Tho was arrested for drug-related crimes.

Defendant Nguyen Van Tho. Photo: Tran Vu

It was November 28, 2018, due to previous acquaintance,So Nguyen Van Tho and a man named Viet (unknown background, specific address) went from Dien Chau district to Vinh city. When arriving at Vinh airport area, Viet got off the car while Tho went to Hospital 115 to visit his brother-in-law who was being treated there.

About 2 hours later, Viet called Tho and asked him to come to the front gate of Nghe An General Hospital to collect the debt. Tho agreed and when he arrived, he saw a car waiting, so he got in. In the car, there was a man who was already sitting there and gave Tho a black plastic bag and told Tho to go with a man named Son (who was sitting in the back seat of the car) to Anphaan Hotel to discuss drug dealing. Tho agreed and put the plastic bag in his pocket.

Arriving at the hotel, Tho and Son rented a room on the 3rd floor. There, Son told Tho to open the bag and check. Tho checked and counted 7 packages. After that, both of them took the plastic bag down to the 1st floor of the hotel to make the drug transaction and receive money.

When the elevator door opened on the first floor, Tho caught a glimpse of the detectives of the Vinh City Police Department's Drug Crime Investigation Team, and immediately threw the drugs in his hand onto the floor. However, Tho's act of disposing of the drugs did not escape the detectives' eyes. Nguyen Van Tho was arrested with evidence of methamphetamine weighing 131.065 grams.

Anphaan Hotel where Nguyen Van Tho was arrested. Photo: Google Maps

At court, Tho initially denied his crime. He claimed he did not know that the black plastic bag contained drugs and only did everything as Viet instructed. However, after a while of debating, he admitted to all his crimes. He expressed remorse and repentance, hoping that the jury would consider a lenient sentence so that he could return home soon to raise his children and take care of his parents.

Relatives of the defendant said that his wife and children were working far away and could not attend the trial. They said that shortly after the defendant was arrested, his young wife decided to take their 1-year-old child and go to the south to work. Unable to see his wife and children in court, the defendant's eyes were red. After informing his parents that "I'm fine", the defendant asked his relatives to send their regards to his wife and children.

Sitting below, the father with a small body and a haggard face could only look at his son from afar. As a second-class war invalid with a 63% disability and his age, Mr. Nguyen Van L.'s health declined. However, he and his wife struggled to raise 8 children, provide them with food and education, and send them to school. However, they did not expect that their son would make mistakes and break the law.

Recalling the day he received the bad news about his son, the old father was heartbroken. That day, his son-in-law was sick and had to be treated in the hospital. Tho told his family that he would go to the hospital to visit his brother-in-law. But not long after that, my family heard that he was arrested by the police for drug-related crimes. It was so painful and shameful. Hopefully, during his time in prison, he will realize his mistakes and reform himself so that he can soon return home to reunite with his wife and children.

Nguyen Van Tho looked down when he heard the 20-year prison sentence, his father sat behind him with a bewildered face. Photo: Tran Vu

Talking about his daughter-in-law and grandson, Mr. L. choked up. He said that about 3 weeks before the trial, his daughter-in-law asked the family's permission to take her young child to the south to work as a factory worker. Loving her and her grandchild, my husband and I advised her to leave the child behind for her grandparents to take care of, but she refused. She said that now that her husband was arrested, her young child was her only source of support, so she had to take the child with her. She didn't know how she and her child would manage in a foreign land. Speaking of this, his voice choked up, his eyes looking far away.

The panel of judges determined that the defendant’s actions were dangerous to society, because of greed he had traded drugs regardless. However, the defendant committed the crime for the first time, had a good character, confessed honestly, and his biological father was a war invalid, which were mitigating circumstances applied to the defendant. Considering the case as a whole, the panel sentenced Nguyen Van Tho to 20 years in prison for “illegally trading in narcotics”.

Hearing his son’s sentence, the father shook his head in pain. As the covered car gradually disappeared from sight, he worried: 20 years later, when the child returned, would he recognize his father?