The young wife was stunned into silence in the courtroom as her husband received the death sentence.

Former student "ships" drugs by car.

DayTran Van CuongA 30-year-old man residing in Tan Viet commune, Dong Trieu town (Quang Ninh province) was brought to trial by the Nghe An Provincial People's Court for the crime of "illegally transporting narcotics." His 25-year-old wife was also present at the trial. She and a few relatives had traveled by bus from Quang Ninh to Nghe An the previous evening to see her husband after more than 8 months of separation.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic preventing them from getting close, she could only silently watch her husband from afar. All the longing and resentment had been building up, so when someone inquired about her, the woman burst into tears and said, “I don’t understand why he did that. Since he was arrested, my three children and I have relied on each other to survive. The two younger children (5 and 2 years old) keep asking about their father. Afraid of upsetting them, I lied, saying he was working far away. However, my eldest child understands and has questioned me many times. I don’t know how long I can keep hiding it from them anymore.”

Defendant Tran Van Cuong. Photo: Tran Vu

Then the young woman recounted the peaceful days of her married life. They lived in the same province but different districts. They met while working as laborers and decided to get married. To make things easier for their work, Cường and his wife decided to temporarily live with her family.

Cuong had studied mining at a vocational college but didn't pursue that career. He decided to get a driver's license to work as a hired driver. After working as a hired driver for a while, Cuong and his wife discussed it and borrowed money from the bank to buy a car to run a taxi business. “Every day, I work as a factory worker while he drives a taxi. Due to the nature of our jobs, we only see each other in the evenings. It was difficult, but we always encouraged each other to keep trying. More than a year after buying the car, our lives were gradually stabilizing when I heard he had been arrested in Nghe An for drug-related offenses. I was shocked,” Ms. L. (Cuong's wife) recounted.

According to the case file, on January 20, 2021, Cuong received a phone call from Tung (an acquaintance whose identity and specific address were unknown) who hired him to go to Nghe An to pick up drugs and then transport them to Quang Ninh. Cuong agreed, promising a payment of 10 million VND.

Cuong met with Tung, received 3 million dong in advance, and then drove his car to Nghe An. At 1 am the next day, Cuong received a phone call from a man who arranged to meet him in a few hours at the Hieu Bridge area in Thai Hoa town (Nghe An) to receive drugs. At dawn, Cuong arrived at the meeting point, where the man told him the drugs were hidden between two electric poles near the embankment at the beginning of the Hieu Bridge.

As Cuong walked down the bridge, he spotted a sack containing drugs, so he picked it up and got into his car to go home. At that moment, a task force from the Nghe An Provincial Police discovered and apprehended Tran Van Cuong red-handed, possessing various types of drugs with a total weight of over 1.4 kg.

The young wife was distraught as she watched her husband being led away after his death sentence. Photo: Tran Vu

The young wife's pain

Before the witness stand, the defendant Cuong initially claimed he didn't know the "goods" he was hired to receive in Nghe An were drugs. "You claim you didn't know it was drugs, but you need to understand why they paid you 10 million dong. With such a large sum of money, you surely didn't think it was just ordinary merchandise?" a judge asked. At this point, Cuong fell silent.

Later, the defendant admitted to the crime. He stated that as a taxi driver, he agreed to the job because he was greedy for profit. “They promised to pay me 10 million dong, but I only received 3 million dong upfront. I used the remaining 500,000 dong to buy gasoline to drive to Nghe An, where I was arrested by the police,” Cuong explained in court.

Cuong repeatedly expressed remorse for his criminal actions. According to Cuong's statement, he had graduated from a vocational college specializing in mining but did not pursue a career in the field due to fear of accidents. Therefore, he decided to learn to drive to earn a living. After many years of work, he and his wife decided to borrow money from the bank to buy a car and register with a taxi company to pick up passengers. "I feel very regretful. If only I hadn't been greedy for the money, perhaps I would still be working to support my wife and children. My children are still young; I beg the court to give me a chance to live," Tran Van Cuong stated to the panel of judges in his final words.

At the trial, the defendant presented several mitigating circumstances, such as his family's contributions to the revolution and his past role in helping the Coast Guard apprehend a firework smuggling operation in Nghe An, in order to secure a chance at survival. During the deliberation period, his young wife could only sit silently and weep. Cuong glanced down at his wife and mother several times before turning back to look at them.

Defendant Tran Van Cuong was sentenced to death. Photo: Tran Vu

Although the defendant presented some mitigating circumstances, the panel of judges determined that his actions were dangerous to society. He transported a large quantity of drugs. Therefore, the court sentenced Tran Van Cuong to death for the crime of illegally transporting narcotics. Regarding the man named Tung, since Cuong did not know his identity or specific address, there was no basis for further investigation.

Her husband was sentenced to death, and the young wife sat below, awkwardly following behind, but without a chance to say goodbye. Late in the afternoon, she quietly left the court to return to Quang Ninh, leaving her two young children with relatives at home. A bleak future awaited her, a future the young woman dared not even contemplate...

Tran Vu