Death penalty for man who trafficked 30 heroin cakes
(Baonghean.vn) - Ich sold his car for 1.1 billion VND, then bought 30 heroin cakes and hired Hoi to bring them back, intending to bring them to Ho Chi Minh City to sell, but was arrested by the police.
On May 30, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of Nguyen Ngoc Ich (born 1977), residing in Hanh Lam commune, Thanh Chuong district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
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| Nguyen Ngoc Ich at the trial. Photo: Nhu Binh |
According to the indictment, in June 2018, Ich went to Ho Chi Minh City to discuss drug trafficking with a man named Hung Hiep (whose identity and specific identity have not been determined). In September 2018, Ich met a man named Tung (Lao nationality) in the border area to take 2 packages of heroin and 1 package of crystal meth as samples.
Ich put the above drugs in a backpack containing clothes and gave it to Tran Dinh Hoi (born in 1984, living in the same commune) to take to Ho Chi Minh City, while Ich followed behind.
According to the discussion between Hung Hiep and Ich, Ich called Hoi and asked him to contact a woman (Hiep sent her phone number) to deliver the backpack. After checking the goods and confirming the quantity, Hiep agreed to pay Ich 190 million/heroin cake.
To have capital to do business, when he returned to Vinh City, Ich sold his car for 1.1 billion VND, paid off the debt of 120 million, and used the rest to buy drugs.
At 10:00 a.m. on October 14, 2018, Ich called Tung to buy 30 heroin cakes, priced at 5,500 USD/cake. Ich paid 1 billion VND in advance, and promised to pay the rest in 3 days, Tung agreed. At dawn on October 15, 2018, Ich received the drugs, paid, hid the drugs in his backpack, and then called Hoi to pick him up and take him to Vinh.
At 6:45 a.m. the same day, while the car was traveling on National Highway 46, through Van Dien Commune (Nam Dan), the Thanh Chuong District Police in coordination with the Traffic Police Department of Nghe An Province Police stopped the car for inspection and discovered the above drugs.
During the investigation, Tran Dinh Hoi initially admitted that both times he knew Ich was buying and selling drugs, then changed his statement, saying he did not know it was drugs.
Nguyen Ngoc Ich also confirmed that he did not tell Hoi about the drug dealing, but only asked Hoi to help him carry a backpack “containing clothes” into Saigon. The investigation agency could not prove that Hoi was related to the drugs, so he was released after 9 days of detention.
At the trial, Nguyen Ngoc Ich admitted to his crime and showed remorse. Ich affirmed that he had carried out the drug trafficking alone and had nothing to do with Hoi.
The panel of judges found that defendant Ich had many mitigating circumstances according to the law, but the amount of drugs he bought and sold was exceptionally large. Therefore, after a comprehensive review of the case, they sentenced Nguyen Ngoc Ich to death.
Based on Tran Dinh Hoi's initial testimony at the investigation agency and the developments at the trial, the panel of judges also recommended that the Provincial Procuracy and Police continue to investigate and clarify Tran Dinh Hoi's role in the case.