Portrait of the drug lord who was just killed in a raid by hundreds of police officers.

Nguyen Thanh Tuan (born in 1983, also known as Trang, residing in Lat village, Yen Trung commune, Thach That district, Hanoi) is a notorious drug kingpin in Long Luong (Son La province). Tuan was involved with Dang Minh Chau (also known as Huong, Lien Toac, 42 years old, residing at 118 Tam Thanh Street, Tam Thanh Ward, Lang Son City) and other accomplices in a transnational drug trafficking ring that bought and sold nearly 2,000 blocks of heroin.

Tuan (left) and Nguyen Minh Chau, involved in a massive drug trafficking ring dealing in thousands of heroin bricks. (Photo courtesy of the agency.)

Nguyen Thanh Tuan has long been considered an extremely dangerous individual. Tuan was involved in numerous drug trafficking cases, often playing a leading role. He was very cunning, so while his accomplices were successively arrested and sentenced, Tuan remained at large and continued to run his drug empire.

Authorities had long been aware of Tuan's escape and hiding in Ta De (Van Ho, Son La). However, apprehending Tuan proved to be no easy task. Tuan was extremely cautious, always surrounded by several armed guards ready to fire at any opponent or law enforcement.

Tuan's house was solidly built, with a dense network of cameras covering the entire area. Anyone approaching Tuan's house couldn't escape these watchful eyes. The house was designed near the edge of the forest so that if anything happened, Tuan could escape into the woods.

The raid and elimination of notorious drug kingpins in the "drug stronghold" of Long Luong.

Tuan never appeared in drug transactions; he ran the ring via phone or sent trusted subordinates. Therefore, while some drug rings under Tuan's control were dismantled, he remained completely out of sight. When one ring was broken, Tuan would simply form a new one.

According to official documents, at noon on July 23, 2015, the Drug Crime Investigation Department (C47, Ministry of Public Security) stopped three vehicles traveling together that showed suspicious signs near Phu Dong Bridge (Gia Lam, Hanoi) and brought them to headquarters for inspection. There, police discovered a blue industrial gas cylinder with a connector at the end of the cylinder, containing 170 blocks of heroin, inside a truck with license plate 29H.86.82.

Six individuals traveling in three cars were immediately apprehended and their arrest recorded. Nguyen Quoc Hung (born in 1983, residing in Thai Binh province) was identified as the ringleader. A search of Hung's rented residence in An Khanh (Hoai Duc district, Hanoi) yielded two additional gas cylinders containing a total of 320 blocks of heroin.

The suspects and hundreds of heroin bricks seized as evidence in a transnational drug trafficking ring.

Expanding the investigation, the police have prosecuted 16 individuals for the crimes of "Illegal trafficking of narcotics"; "Illegal possession of military weapons" and "Failure to report a crime".

The investigating agency clarified that Hung was acquainted with Bui Thi Hang, the sister-in-law of Nguyen Thanh Tuan. After suffering business losses, Hung asked Hang and her husband, Nghiem Cong Dung, to take him to meet Tuan in Van Ho (Son La) to borrow money. From there, Tuan and Hung formed a large-scale drug trafficking ring with extremely sophisticated methods.

Tuan's wife is also serving a prison sentence for drug-related offenses in another case. Since leaving his hometown for Van Ho, Tuan has adopted several aliases, including ethnic names, in an attempt to "blend in" with the place where he is hiding. He is also living with another woman as husband and wife.

Nguyen Thanh Tuan is involved in numerous large-scale drug trafficking cases, is the ringleader and supplier of drugs to other accomplices, and is a nationally wanted fugitive.

Death row inmate Nguyen Van Tinh became "famous" after escaping from solitary confinement at T16 prison (Ministry of Public Security) along with Tho "Sut," who was also a subordinate of Nguyen Thanh Tuan. Tinh was arrested and sentenced to death for participating in this "kingpin's" drug trafficking ring.

Earlier, implementing the plan of the Ministry of Public Security, in the early morning of June 26, nearly 200 officers and soldiers from units of the Ministry of Public Security and the Son La Provincial Police deployed forces to surround and apprehend a group of drug traffickers with a particularly dangerous arrest warrant who were hiding in Ta De village, Long Luong commune, Van Ho district, Son La province.

Here, the ringleaders, Nguyen Thanh Tuan and Thuan "Chot," fiercely resisted the police with gunfire. After hours of persuasion, the suspects still refused to surrender their weapons, forcing the authorities to open fire, and the shootout continued into June 28th.

Elite units of the Ministry of Public Security and the Son La Provincial Police neutralized several suspects, arrested three others, and seized four guns, three grenades, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition of various types.

Tuan Hop