Coordinate drug crime prevention in the Land of a Million Elephants

(Baonghean.vn) -On hot days in May, the joint force of the PCTPMT Department, the Border Guard Station of Nam Can International Border Gate - Nghe An Border Guard, and the Xieng Khouang Provincial Police (Laos) broke up Project "314 L", arrested 3 subjects, seized 15 heroin cakes and 2000 MTTH pills... It is noteworthy that all three subjects arrested in the project are brothers in the same family.

In early 2013, while performing their duties, the Nghe An Border Guard's Anti-drug Enforcement Force discovered a number of Laotian nationals frequently crossing the Laos-Vietnam border with suspicious signs. During their monitoring and surveillance, the detectives initially determined that these individuals were participating in a drug trafficking ring transporting large quantities of drugs from Laos to Vietnam, so they reported the situation and proposed to establish a special project to combat and destroy them.

Immediately after the Project codenamed “314 L” was established, Nghe An Border Guard immediately sent a working group to the neighboring country to directly coordinate with Xieng Khouang Police to secretly monitor suspicious subjects. After many months of working together, through professional measures, the reconnaissance team reported to the Project Committee basic information about this transnational drug trafficking and transportation ring. Notably, the subjects in the ring were all directly run by relatives, had a very high level of “confidentiality” and were very difficult to approach.

The subjects who regularly trade and transport drugs along this border were "named" by the detectives, including Gia Va Chu (1981, residing in Dooc Kham village, Muong Kham district), Gia Tong Cu (1971) and Gia Giong Di (1986, residing in Pha En village, Noong Het district, Xieng Khouang province, Laos). These are 3 brothers in the same family and are also 3 important links in this cross-border drug trafficking and transportation ring. The identities and backgrounds of the suspects are known, but to catch the subjects red-handed and ensure the safety of the forces participating in the investigation is not simple. Because through the verified information, the leaders of Project 314L know that the above subjects operate in a very well-organized and very reckless manner, ready to use hot weapons to fight back against the authorities to escape if discovered and arrested. They often cross the Vietnam - Laos border with many different "covers" to fool the authorities. Therefore, to successfully solve the case as well as ensure the safety of the forces participating in the investigation, the commander of the task force requested the detectives to continue to closely monitor all movements, collect more evidence, and wait for the subject to be careless before "throwing the net".

Through analyzing the information provided by the detectives, the leader of the "314L" Project Team determined that it would be very difficult to catch the criminals red-handed, because they are local people, familiar with the terrain, and if they were to discover "strangers", all the efforts of the project from the beginning of the year would be "in vain". However, this drug trafficking ring of the same family revealed "weaknesses" that they probably could not have expected, that is, every time they "acted", all the subjects had to participate from the stages of receiving goods, transporting, distributing, reconnaissance on the way... From there, the Project Team ordered the detectives to continue monitoring and would deploy secret forces to catch the whole group while they were transporting a large amount of drugs.

Drugs seized in the Project

In early May 2013, detectives said that the drug ring run by three brothers in the same family had just agreed with a “partner” to conduct a major transaction on the border of Noong Het district, Xieng Khouang province, Laos. Realizing that the opportunity had come, the leaders of the “314 L” task force deployed an undercover force determined to capture the subjects while they were on their way to the transaction point. Accordingly, the task force would ambush in two areas on the road from Nam Can International Border Gate – Nghe An (Vietnam) to Pon Xa Van Town (Laos), one team was tasked with arresting two subjects on a motorbike, the other team was tasked with arresting a subject in a car carrying drugs.

At 5:00 p.m. on May 16, as planned, Gia Tong Cu drove a motorbike in front to clear the way, Gia Va Chu drove a pickup truck carrying 15 heroin bricks in the middle, and Gia Giong Di drove a motorbike behind to "block the rear" and "cut off" if anyone followed. All aimed to head straight to the Nam Can International Border Gate area. When they reached Muong Kham Town (Xieng Khouang), about 1km from Nam Can International Border Gate, they stopped, hid the "goods" in a safe place, and then contacted the "partner" for the transaction. However, everything was within the calculation of the Task Force, so the place where they stopped was also the ambush site that had been arranged in advance. Therefore, when the subjects were unloading the goods from the vehicle, they were immediately arrested by the scouts of the Nghe An Border Guard's Anti-Terrorism Force and the Xieng Khouang Provincial Police.

Too fast and unexpected, all 3 subjects did not have time to react, and had to put their hands in handcuffs. At the scene, the police seized 15 heroin cakes, 2,000 synthetic drug pills, 1 knife, 1 truck, 2 motorbikes and 24,850,000 Lao kip. Immediately after, the subjects and the evidence were handed over to Xieng Khouang Provincial Police for further investigation and handling.

The success of Project "314L" further affirms the smooth and effective coordination between the Vietnam Border Guard and Lao Police in the fight against cross-border drug trafficking criminals.

Article and photos: Hung Phong