Coffee adulterated with battery charcoal scandal: Decision to urgently arrest 5 suspects approved.
Because the suspects had previously attempted to leave the area, the Dak Nong Provincial Police issued an emergency arrest warrant. Authorities are currently completing the procedures to prosecute these individuals.
On April 26th, at a press conference announcing information related to the discovery of a facility owned by Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan (Hamlet 13, Dak Wer Commune, Dak R'Lap District) mixing battery core solution with coffee impurities, Lieutenant Colonel Pham Thanh Binh - spokesperson for the Dak Nong Provincial Police - stated that the People's Procuracy of the same level had approved the decision to urgently detain 5 related individuals.
Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong, Director of the People's Procuracy of Dak Nong province, also confirmed that the unit had received the file from the Dak Nong Provincial Police requesting the prosecution of 5 defendants in the case of dyeing coffee waste with battery charcoal, at the facility of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan.
Because Mrs. Loan and her husband had previously intended to leave the area and return to Dong Nai, the authorities approved the decision to detain them urgently.
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| Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan, the owner of the production facility, was found to be mixing coffee impurities with battery fluid. |
The five individuals taken into emergency custody include: Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan (born 1975); Nguyen Xuan Bao (born 1985), both residing in Dak Wer commune, Dak R'Lap district; Phan Thi Dung (born 1962, residing in Loc Ninh town, Loc Ninh district, Binh Phuoc province); Le Thi Hong Tho (born 1979) and Tran Van Tuan (born 1976), both residing in Nam N'Jang commune, Dak Song district.
At a press conference on April 26, Lieutenant Colonel Pham Thanh Binh stated that after nearly 10 days of investigation, the Police Investigation Agency had sufficient grounds to initiate a criminal case and urgently arrest Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan and the four other individuals involved in the incident.
Accordingly, Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan confessed to selling 3 tons of a mixed product containing coffee mixed with pebbles and batteries to Le Thi Hong Tho and Tran Van Tuan (residing in Nam Njang commune, Dak Song district). This product was then sold to Phan Thi Dung (Director of Thao Dung Production and Trading Company Limited, Binh Phuoc province) to be mixed into pepper.
After purchasing 3 tons of the mixture, Phan Thi Dung used a portion to mix with dried peppercorns, packing them into 360 bags for storage, totaling 9 tons. According to her confession, this was done to increase the weight of the peppercorns.
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| A spokesperson for the Dak Nong Provincial Police provided information about the incident. |
Regarding the remaining mixture, Phan Thi Dung confessed: Upon hearing that Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan's act of mixing the mixture had been discovered by the Dak Nong Provincial Police, Phan Thi Dung mixed the remaining mixture with lime, phosphate fertilizer, and pig manure, then hid it in a rubber plantation with the intention of disposing of it and destroying the evidence.
The Criminal Investigation Department of the Dak Nong Provincial Police seized 9 tons of black pepper (mixed with other substances) and 11 tons of a mixture containing lime, phosphate fertilizer, and pig manure. The Dak Nong Provincial Police have collected samples and sent them to the Institute of Criminal Science - Ministry of Public Security for analysis.
Based on the investigation results to date, it can be concluded that the mixture produced by Nguyen Thi Thanh Loan and Nguyen Xuan Bao was promptly discovered, prevented, and seized by the Dak Nong Provincial Police. This mixture had not yet been blended or processed into products such as coffee powder or pepper powder for consumption on the market.
The investigating agency is currently continuing to investigate and clarify the case in accordance with the law.