Nearly 40 years in prison for 2 Laotians who bought drugs on debt and sold them in Vietnam
(Baonghean.vn) - When contacted by a customer to order drugs, Gia Tho (a Laotian) bought a heroin cake on credit and invited his friend Tong Va to come to Vietnam to deliver the goods.
On August 30, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendants Gia Tho (born 1985) and Tong Va (born 1980), both residing in Nam Tay village, Vieng Phan village cluster, Sam To district, Hua Phan province (Laos) for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
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| Two defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
According to the indictment, in early March 2019, a woman named Hua in Vietnam called Gia Tho and said "a customer ordered 1 kg of crystal meth for 150 million VND and 1 cake of heroin for 160 million VND".
About 10 days later, Hua called and told Gia Tho to go to Vietnam to meet a drug buyer to see the money. After seeing the money, Gia Tho asked for money first before taking the drugs, but the buyer did not accept. On March 18, Hua called Gia Tho and told him to bring drugs to a location in Que Phong district to sell to customers.
After that, Gia Tho went to meet a Laotian man and bought a heroin cake on credit for 120 million VND. At about 3:30 p.m. the same day, Gia Tho called Tong Va to say that there was a customer in Vietnam asking to buy drugs. At the same time, he invited Tong Va to go to Vietnam to sell drugs. Tong Va agreed to go.
Tong Va drove the motorbike carrying Gia Tho to Vietnam. When they reached the Laos - Vietnam border area, Gia Tho gave the heroin cake to Tong Va to take on foot along the small road across the border between the two countries and then into Muong Piet village, Thong Thu commune, Que Phong district. Meanwhile, Gia Tho drove the motorbike through Thong Thu border gate.
About 30 minutes later, the two met at Thong Thu commune. There, Tong Va took the heroin cake and hid in the bushes by the roadside while Gia Tho went to buy food and waited for customers to come buy drugs.
When Gia Tho and Tong Va were preparing to deliver drugs to customers, they were discovered and caught red-handed by Nghe An province police, who seized a heroin cake weighing 351.05 grams.
In court, the two defendants admitted all their crimes. For the crime of “Illegal drug trafficking”, Gia Tho was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Tong Va was sentenced to 18 years in prison.