Man with 7 children sentenced to life in prison for buying drugs on credit
(Baonghean.vn) - As a father of 7 children, at an old age, needing to set an example for his children and grandchildren, Tho Tong Mua (Que Phong, Nghe An) had to go to prison, receiving almost the highest sentence.
On June 17, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance trial of defendant Tho Tong Mua (born in 1970, residing in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, Nghe An province) for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".
According to the defendant's testimony: Around the beginning of December 2019, Tho Tong Mua went to the market in Kim Son town (Que Phong district) and met a man named Cuong. Cuong immediately asked Tong Mua: "Do you have drugs to sell?", Mua saw that this "job" was easy and the pay was high, so he took Cuong's phone number to easily contact him when there was goods.
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| Defendant Tho Tong Mua at the trial. Photo: An Quynh |
As soon as he got home, Mua contacted a Laotian named Lau Ba Cua to discuss buying drugs. The two agreed that the price for each heroin cake would be 60 million VND and the profit from buying 1 cake would be 1 package of drugs (pink phien).
On January 17, 2020, Cuong called Tong Mua to order 5 heroin cakes at 85 million VND each and 5 pink drug packages, each bag worth 1 million VND. Both agreed to deliver on January 19, 2020.
At about 7:00 a.m. on January 19, 2020, Tho Tong Mua went to Huoi Moi village, in Tri Le commune, and met Lau Ba Cua and Lau Ba Tu who were with him to hold the goods. Because he had no money, Mua asked to buy on credit and promised to pay after delivering the goods. Seeing that, Cua let Lau Ba Tu go with Mua to carry the goods and receive the money while he returned to Laos first.
At around 12 noon on January 19, Tong Mua and Ba Tu went to the delivery point near Highway 48 to meet Cuong. While Tu was carrying the package, the authorities discovered suspicious signs and detained him for inspection. However, Ba Tu escaped.
Confiscated at the scene were 5 cakes containing white powder and 5 small blue bags containing many pink tablets. Through testing, it was discovered that the above evidence contained 1,749.4 grams of heroin and 99.24 grams of pink opium. The defendant admitted his illegal acts in court.
The panel of judges found that this was an act that would have serious consequences for society if carried out successfully, so it needed to be strictly tried to set an example. Considering the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel sentenced Tho Ba Mua to life in prison.
Because the background and identity of the two Lao people who sold goods to Mua and the young man named Cuong could not be determined, the investigation agency had no basis to clarify the charges./.