Drug trafficking from a cellmate, man sentenced to death
(Baonghean.vn) - While serving a prison sentence for drug-related crimes, Son inquired about his fellow inmates' sources of "goods". After being released from prison, Son bought nearly 6kg of drugs using that information and was sentenced to death by the court.
On October 6, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a criminal trial of defendant Phan Trong Son (born 1964), residing in Hung Binh ward, Vinh city, for the crime of "Illegal trading of narcotics"; defendant Nguyen Tat Thach (born 1977), residing in Ha Huy Tap ward, Vinh city, for the crime of "Failure to report a crime".
Son and Thach are two defendants with bad personal records, having been in and out of prison many times.
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Defendant Phan Trong Son in court. Photo: Tran Vu |
At the end of 2020, while serving his prison sentence, Son met a prisoner in Quang Tri. When Son asked where he could buy drugs, this person gave him the phone number of a man named Tuan.
After completing his prison sentence, Son contacted Tuan many times to ask to buy drugs. At the end of January 2022, Son invited Tuan to his house and asked him to help him buy drugs to sell for profit, promising to pay him and agreeing on a price.
Then, Son rented a car and invited Nguyen Tat Thach to go to Huong Son district (Ha Tinh) to play.
At midnight on March 6, following Tuan’s instructions, Son drove near Cau Treo border gate and went alone to get drugs hidden in an electric pole. Before leaving, Son threw away the phone he used to contact to buy drugs.
At around 2am that same day, when the two were on their way to Vinh City, the police stopped the car for inspection. Seeing this, Son backed up the car and said to Thach, “Throw me the bag.” Thach opened the car door, grabbed the bag of drugs and ran away, but was arrested by the police.
Searching Son's house, the authorities also discovered several packages of drugs that he said he bought to sell for profit.
The investigation agency determined that Phan Trong Son must bear criminal responsibility for illegally buying and selling more than 5.8 kg of drugs.
When Thach learned that Son was buying and selling drugs and was asked by the police to stop the car, he took the drugs and ran away to prevent the police from detecting him, so he must be responsible for concealing a crime.
At the trial, facing the death penalty, defendant Son begged to live. Defendant Thach confessed honestly and admitted his crime.
Considering that in this case the defendant had traded in an exceptionally large quantity of drugs, the court sentenced Phan Trong Son to death. Defendant Nguyen Tat Thach was sentenced to 4 years in prison for failing to report a crime.
As for the man named Tuan, because Son claimed he did not know his background or address, the investigation agency had no basis to investigate and verify.