Drug bust arrests Lao youth at midnight

(Baonghean.vn)- After 2 months of investigation and monitoring, on December 31, 2017, the Nam Can International Border Gate Border Guard Station coordinated with the Drug and Crime Prevention Department of Nghe An Border Guard to successfully break the 364lv project, catching a Laotian man red-handed illegally transporting 10 heroin cakes weighing about 3.8kg and 1kg of crystal meth.

» Laotian man arrested for transporting 10 heroin and crystal meth cakes

Having just returned from the success of a major project, Lieutenant Colonel Dang An Son - Head of the Border Guard Station at Nam Can International Border Gate, Nghe An Border Guard, had dark circles under his eyes, was soaked, and his lips were purple from the cold. He said: "Thanks to good reconnaissance work, grasping all the movements of the subject, and coming up with a plan that closely matched the actual situation in the area, the case was solved quickly, ensuring absolute safety for people and vehicles, achieving the expected results."

Project 364lv was established in early November 2017, when detectives discovered a "huge" drug ring that often took advantage of market days at the Vietnam - Laos border and holidays of agencies and units in Vietnam to connect with Lao and Vietnamese subjects, buy drugs and then find ways to cross the border into Vietnam for consumption.

The evidence included 10 heroin cakes weighing about 3.8kg and 1kg of crystal meth. Photo: Hai Thuong

Upon receiving the information, experienced detectives were assigned to monitor the routes and methods of these organized criminals. After collecting complete information about the origin, routes and key subjects in the multinational drug trafficking and transportation network.

Accordingly, the ringleader never appears but only assigns tasks to trusted juniors or lazy young men to transport drugs from across the border to Vietnam for consumption.

Based on the analysis of the actual situation, Nghe An Border Guard established a special project codenamed 364lv to destroy this huge drug ring.

To avoid being monitored and prevented by the authorities, the subjects in this drug ring often choose young, strong men who are familiar with the areas bordering Vietnam to carry the "goods" across the border.

On the last day of the 2017 calendar year, when the Vietnam - Laos border market was taking place at the Nam Can international border gate in Ky Son district; the temperature here sometimes dropped below zero, the fog was thick, it was freezing cold and it was the time when agencies and units were on New Year's holiday.

Realizing that this was the right time to bring "goods" to Vietnam for consumption, Lau Giong De was chosen to transport goods to Vietnam for the partner. The goat was not only young and healthy, convenient for carrying goods through the forest roads across the border, but he also used to live in Noong Het district, a border district adjacent to Nam Can commune, Ky Son district.

Subject: Goat Floor. Photo: Hai Thuong

Speaking more about Lau Giong De (born in 1985), he has a happy family with 3 children, boys and girls. Instead of working hard like other households in Na Kham village, Lau Giong De chose to make quick money by accepting a job to transport drugs from the other side of the border to Vietnam.

After calculating all options, to avoid being tracked, Lau Giong De did not depart from his family's place of residence, Na Kham village, Kham Cot district, Bo Ly Kham Xay province, Laos, but De went to Vientiane province 3 days earlier, then received the goods and departed from here towards the Vietnam border to deliver the goods. On the way, to choose the right time to safely cross the border, Lau Giong De temporarily stopped in Noong Het district for one night, both to monitor the situation and to contact the partner to deliver the goods.

From here to the Vietnam border is only about 15km, around 9pm on December 30th, the opportunity to cross the border to deliver the goods came, Lau Giong De cut through the forest to bring drugs into the Vietnam border. However, the transaction was not carried out as scheduled, at 2am on December 31st, 2017 at the border trail in Tien Tieu village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son district, Lau Giong De was arrested by Nghe An Border Guard force along with all the evidence of 10 heroin cakes on his person in a cloth bag; following the subject's trail, the Border Guard force continued to seize another 1kg of crystal meth carefully packaged and disguised in a tea bag.

A scout in the crime-solving team added: to capture the suspect and the evidence, the crime-solving team had to march for hours through the forest on slippery roads in cold weather. The brothers had to eat dry food to ensure their health, especially when the nighttime weather sometimes dropped below 5 degrees. But the whole team overcame the difficulties and fought successfully.

The case has been handed over by Nghe An Border Guard to the authorities for further investigation./.

Hai Thuong