Transporting drugs from Laos to Vietnam, Mong student sentenced to 20 years in prison
(Baonghean.vn) - The 7th child in a Mong family of 11 children, Phoong Xong's real name is Chu Khua Dia Di Xong. Xong is currently a student at the Lao PDR University of Culture. Just because he wanted to earn some money, Xong accepted to illegally transport drugs across the Vietnam-Laos border.
On January 22, 2019, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance trial of the case of Phoong Xong (born in 1995; residing in Phon Kham village, Xay Cham Pon district, Bo Lykhamxay province) for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
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| Defendant Phoong Xong at trial. Photo: Quynh An. |
On August 20, 2018, the woman came to Xong’s house and gave him 15 plastic bags containing pink tablets wrapped in a piece of paper and told him: “Tomorrow afternoon (January 21, 2018), bring the drugs to the border area of village 3, Thanh Thuy commune, Thanh Chuong. I will wait there and pay you.”
On the morning of August 21, 2018, Xong drove his motorbike to the border area, hid it in the forest, and then went on a small road to Thanh Thuy border gate. At the meeting point, Xong and the woman were talking when they were discovered and arrested by the Thanh Thuy Border Guard Station.
After examination, it was determined that 15 pink tablets seized from Xong were drugs weighing 256.07 grams.
The panel of judges determined that Xong's actions constituted the crime of "Illegally transporting narcotics", but because the defendant repented and confessed honestly, he was given mitigating circumstances. The panel of judges sentenced Xong to 20 years in prison.