Selling cows to trade in 'white goods' and then changing his life behind bars
(Baonghean.vn) - With the ambition to get rich, Luong Van Xa decided to sell his herd of 3 cows to buy drugs. However, before he could realize his ambition to change his life, he had to exchange it for 20 years behind bars.
Living in Dua village, Luong Minh commune (Tuong Duong district - Nghe An), Luong Van Xa (born in 1976) showed many signs of financial irregularities when he spent a lot of money. Although this subject often went into the forest to work on the fields and dig the land, those things did not escape the eyes of the authorities.
The police have learned the drug trafficking methods of this subject. Luong Van Xa would “import” drugs from Laos to Nghe An. To avoid the authorities, Xa often chose locations to import “goods” in rugged mountainous areas, often late at night or early in the morning. Xa always had weapons with him in order to fight back against the authorities if discovered.
 |
| Defendant Luong Van Xa at the trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
On the morning of July 24, 2019, Luong Van Xa carried 80 million VND and walked to Pu Lom hill, Luong Minh commune to buy drugs. When he reached Pu Lom hill, Xa met 3 Mong ethnic men who asked to buy drugs. These 3 men agreed to sell Xa 3 heroin sticks and 16 packages of pink phien for 80 million VND.
After purchasing the “goods”, Xa hid them in his shack in Dua village, Luong Minh commune to sell to addicts. At around 7:00 p.m. on September 25, while Xa was selling drugs to addicts, he was caught red-handed by Ky Son district police, who seized 97.5 grams of heroin and 298.49 grams of methamphetamine.
At the recent trial of Luong Van Xa for “Illegal drug trafficking”, the defendant admitted to the crime. When asked by the court about the money used to buy drugs, Xa said he sold a herd of 3 cows for 80 million VND. The defendant calculated that if he sold all the drugs, he would make a profit of 20 million VND. Xa also estimated that he would sell all the drugs within 1 month.
"The defendant has so many cows because he comes from a well-off family. Why didn't he work hard and choose to sell drugs instead?", in response to the court's question, the defendant replied: "The defendant wanted to take risks to get rich."
Throughout the trial, the defendant remained calm, sometimes even smiling during the questioning. The defendant also innocently said that after selling the 3 cows, his family still had 3 more cows.
 |
| Set up huts in the deep forest to hide and sell drugs to addicts. (Illustration photo) |
Although he appeared calm, during the court's deliberations, Luong Van Xa could not hide his sadness when he did not see any of his relatives in court. It is known that the defendant is the 6th child in a family of 8 siblings. His mother passed away a long time ago, and his father is old and cannot come to court. None of his brothers and even his wife and children were present at this trial. Therefore, throughout the court's deliberations, the defendant bowed his head and remained silent.
The panel of judges determined that drugs are a major threat to the whole society, causing harm to health, degrading the race, human dignity, destroying family happiness, seriously affecting social order, safety and national security, so they must be dealt with severely. In this case, the defendant's honest confession and the defendant's father's contribution to the revolution are mitigating circumstances. Considering the case as a whole, the court sentenced Luong Van Xa to 20 years in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking".