Late regret of the one who chased the 'brown fairy'

Went to take detox pills and met a friend who invited him to sell drugs.

Le Truong Thach (34 years old), was born in Tien My commune, Tien Phuoc district (Quang Nam). Dropping out of school early, Thach followed his friends to the South to earn a living. This land not only helped the young man have a job to support himself but was also where Thach met and fell in love with his life partner. This girl is from Tuong Duong district (Nghe An), 1 year older than Thach.

After getting married, family life with many worries about making ends meet in a foreign land, both decided to leave the city and return to the countryside. However, the peaceful life in their hometown did not last long when Thach got involved in drugs. In 2011, Thach was sent to the Quang Nam Province Social Labor Protection Center for drug use.

Not long after leaving the center, this young man sought out the smoke of the “brown fairy”. Thach admitted that it was very difficult to quit drugs despite his determination many times. Also because of being a slave to drugs, Le Truong Thach was arrested by Nghe An Provincial Police and sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison for the crime ofIllegal possession of drugsin 2015.

In August 2019, Thach finished serving his prison sentence, but relapsed not long after. That was also the reason why he had to take drug addiction treatment at Tien Phuoc District Medical Center.

While taking drugs to detoxify, Thach became friends with his hometown friend Doan Tran Kim Tri (33 years old) who was also required to go to detoxification. They met at the place where they took drugs and then both decided to sell drugs.

According to the indictment, because he had returned to his wife's hometown in Tuong Duong district many times, Thach knew that some mountainous areas there had drugs. In early June 2023, Thach went to Tri's house and invited him to Nghe An to sell drugs for profit. Tri agreed and then invited his friend Le Quang Hau (21 years old), residing in Tien Canh commune, Tien Phuoc district, to join him.

On July 2, 2023, Thach and Hau took a bus from Quang Nam to Nghe An to buy drugs. After the two friends reported that they had arrived in Tuong Duong district, Tri transferred 120 million VND to Thach through a gold and silver shop. Thach borrowed 20 million VND from the above amount to buy a motorbike to buy drugs.

Then, Thach drove Hau to Dua village, Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district to buy 1 heroin cake from a man named Po (unknown background and address) for 100 million VND.

That same evening, when Hau and Thach returned to Quang Nam with drugs, they were arrested by Nghe An police with more than 347 grams of drugs. Based on the statements of the two subjects, on January 29, 2024, the police urgently arrested Doan Tran Kim Tri for illegal drug trafficking.

At the trial, the three defendants admitted to their crimes. In this case, defendant Thach was the initiator, defendant Hau was an active participant. These two defendants were tasked with traveling from Quang Nam to Nghe An to find a source of drugs. Meanwhile, defendant Tri was responsible for investing the capital to carry out this business deal.

Message from the brown fairy chaser

When questioned by the court as to why he went all the way to Nghe An to sell drugs, the defendant Thach stated that his wife was from Tuong Duong district. Since visiting his wife’s hometown, the defendant had connected with a number of drug dealers. In addition, because he was addicted to drugs, the defendant often contacted those people. In the previous crime, the defendant also went to Nghe An and was arrested by Tuong Duong district police.

In this crime, Thach seemed to have anticipated the sentence he would receive. Therefore, the defendant expressed his sincere hope for leniency from the law so that he could soon return to his wife and children.

According to the defendant, his two children are still young. Since his arrest, his wife and children have had few opportunities to visit him due to the distance. Even on the day of his trial, his wife and children were not present in court.

When asked if he wanted to say anything to his wife, children, and relatives, Thach smiled awkwardly and said: "As a father and husband, if I make mistakes like this, I'm failing my family."

After a moment of contemplation, Thach shared that he felt very guilty towards his children, for not taking care of them fully, both mentally and materially. The young father confided that during his long period of addiction, all the money he earned was spent on his own needs. He rarely provided even milk or cakes for his children. What Thach regretted the most was that his children's childhood lacked the care and guidance of their father.

With the 20-year prison sentence proposed by the representative of the Procuracy, Thach seemed to have anticipated his sentence. Therefore, the young father apologized to his children. At the same time, he hoped that his wife would try to take care of the family and educate the children on her husband's behalf. Thach also told everyone that when "marrying" a brown fairy, from the uneducated to the intellectual, it would be difficult to escape tragedy, including the defendant.

For the crime of illegal drug trafficking, defendant Le Truong Thach was sentenced to 20 years in prison. That was also the sentence given to defendant Doan Tran Kim Tri. Defendant Le Quang Hau was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the same crime of illegal drug trafficking.

Leaving the court without any relatives present to offer words of encouragement, Thach and the two defendants walked away. Thach himself had lost the chance to correct his previous mistakes because he was still chasing drugs.