A man's heartfelt confession while hiding from his pregnant wife to sell 'white goods'

Lang Van Trung (born in 1984), residing in Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district, is the third child in a family of four siblings. His family was not well off and his father died early, so Trung dropped out of school after third grade. After that, Trung followed his friends to work for hire. When he reached adulthood, Trung married a girl two years younger than him.

When his child was 2 years old, Trung had to serve a 3-year prison sentence for illegal possession of drugs. In April 2018, Trung finished serving his sentence and returned to his hometown. After a stumble, Trung should have worked hard to make up for his mistakes with his wife and children. But then, this man continued to commit crimes related todrug.

It was June 19, Trung had the idea of ​​buying drugs to sell. Trung rode his motorbike to the Dua village area, Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district to ask to buy drugs. When he met a man walking on the side of the road, Trung asked to buy the "goods" and was instructed: "Just keep going along this road, when you see a woman, ask that person". Trung continued walking for about 10km and met a woman standing on the side of the road so he stopped to ask to buy "white goods". This woman introduced herself as Thuy and said she had drugs. Trung asked to buy 6 packages of pink phien, Thuy offered 4.6 million VND per package. Thus, the total amount Trung had to pay Thuy was more than 27 million VND.

Lang Van Trung always shows remorse, especially when talking about his newborn child. Photo: Tran Vu

Because he only had 20 million, Trung asked to delay the remaining amount and Thuy agreed. The seller agreed to pay in full in 3 days. Then, Thuy walked into the forest and returned 5 minutes later to give Trung the drugs. Lang Van Trung brought the drugs he bought home and hid them in a milk carton under the couple's bed. Trung's plan was to resell them if anyone asked to buy them.

On the morning of June 22, a person called and ordered a package of pink heroin. Trung offered a price of 6 million VND and then set a time and place for delivery. When Trung drove his motorbike to Yen Hoa village, Hoa Son commune, he was discovered and caught red-handed by the Anh Son district police. On the same day, the police conducted an emergency search of Trung's residence and discovered 5 packages of pink heroin. The investigation agency determined that the total amount of drugs for which Lang Van Trung must bear criminal responsibility in this case was 116.590 grams.

On the day Trung was arrested, his wife was in the last months of pregnancy with their second child. On the day of the trial, no relatives of the defendant were present. Therefore, as soon as he was led into the courtroom, Trung looked around, hoping to find his wife or children, but saw only empty rows of benches.

Sitting quietly in the courtroom, Trung confided: “I think I paid a very high price for drugs. Not necessarily because of the sentence I am about to receive, but I always feel guilty towards my wife, children and relatives.” Trung said he still remembers clearly the day the police came to search his house. Because Trung kept it a secret from his family, his wife did not know about his drug trafficking. “At that time, my wife was about 7 months pregnant. She was shocked when she found out I had re-offended. Her disappointed eyes still haunt me during my days in detention,” Trung confided.

A few months after Trung was arrested, his wife gave birth to their second child. “I only found out I had another child when my family came to visit and told me the news. When the baby was over a month old, my wife brought the baby down so I could see his face. Looking at the baby sleeping soundly in my wife’s arms, I felt very guilty towards my wife and child. That was also the first time I saw my second child’s face,” Trung said, tears welling up in his eyes as he talked about his relatives.

Before this court appearance, Trung was quite excited because he was about to meet his wife and children. However, because the news of the trial date was announced late, Trung's wife and children did not have time to catch a bus to the court. In the quiet courtroom, Trung occasionally turned his face down to look for his wife and children, but there was no one there.

Unable to meet his wife and children in court, the defendant sent a message to the writer to ask after the health of everyone in the family. Trung also considered this a great lesson in his life. “For me now, my wife and children are a great motivation for me to reform. I also feel that I am unfilial for not taking care of my old mother and causing her to collapse because of the sins I committed,” Trung shared during the court’s deliberation.

For the crime of illegal drug trafficking, Lang Van Trung was sentenced to 20 years in prison. As for the woman who sold drugs to Trung, because the defendant did not know her background or specific address, the investigation agency had no basis to prosecute her.

As if he knew the sentence he would receive, Trung calmly left the court. With a 20-year prison sentence, hopefully the young father will realize his mistakes and reform, soon having the opportunity to return to see his child who has been separated from him since birth.

Tran Vu