Arrest of 'buffalo trickster' from Nghe An to Central Highlands on the run

On February 29, Tan Ky District Police said that the unit had just arrested Pham Dinh Son (born in 1970), residing in Hamlet 3 (now Nguyen Trai Hamlet), Nghia Hanh Commune, Tan Ky District, wanted for the crime of "Abuse of trust to appropriate property".

Specifically, in 2014, Pham Dinh Son borrowed a buffalo from Mr. Tran Van Quy (born in 1972), residing in hamlet 11 (now Tan Hoa hamlet), Nghia Hanh commune, Tan Ky district, to plow the fields for the crop season.

But then, Son sold Mr. Quy's buffalo to Mr. Nguyen Huu Cong in Anh Son for 34 million VND. When he learned that Pham Dinh Son had taken his buffalo and sold it for profit, Mr. Tran Van Quy filed a complaint with the Tan Ky District Police.

However, when he learned that Mr. Quy had denounced him, Pham Dinh Son quickly fled the area. The Investigation Police Agency of Tan Ky District Police issued a decision to initiate a criminal case, prosecute Pham Dinh Son for the crime of "Abuse of trust to appropriate property", and at the same time issued a wanted notice for Pham Dinh Son.

Wanted subjects. Photo: Minh Tam

In early November 2019, using sharp professional measures, the detectives accurately identified Pham Dinh Son as living and working on coffee and pepper plantations in Thuan Hanh commune, Dak Song district, Dak Nong province. Tan Ky district police and Dak Nong provincial police deployed forces to monitor and ambush around the subject's house, waiting for the right moment to arrest him. After persistently lying in wait for many hours, when it was getting dark, the detectives discovered Son's figure walking from the alley to the gate of the house.

After confirming that this was the wanted subject, the reconnaissance teams immediately rushed in to control and arrest Son, who was surprised and unable to react. Immediately afterwards, the subject was escorted to Nghe An for further investigation and handling according to regulations.

At the Tan Ky District Police Investigation Agency, Son bowed his head and admitted all his crimes. During the investigation, the subject also confessed to committing 4 cases of appropriating buffaloes and cows from people in Tan Ky and Anh Son districts in 2013 - 2014 with a total value of more than 120 million VND.

On this occasion, Tan Ky District Police also successfully persuaded Nguyen Trung Chin (born in 1986), residing in Giai Xuan Commune, Tan Ky District, to surrender, who had been wanted since 2012 for robbery and intentional damage to property.

This is the leader and his accomplices who committed the robbery at the mining shed of Phu Hung Company Limited located in Tan Hop Commune, Tan Ky District on the evening of July 31, 2012. This group used knives to smash some furniture in the shed, then robbed 9 bags of ore worth a total of 63 million VND. The other members of the group were arrested and prosecuted, but Nguyen Trung Chinh fled the area and wandered around the southern provinces to make a living.

Determined to close the case, the detectives searched for the suspect while persistently persuading and convincing his family to cooperate in bringing Chin to surrender to enjoy leniency under the law. On February 1, 2020, Chin surrendered to the District Police Department, ending 8 years of wandering to pay the price and gradually rebuild his life.

Minh Tam