The man used an ambulance to transport drugs.
(Baonghean.vn) - Under the guise of being an ambulance driver transporting patients to the hospital, Phan Thanh Lam transported drugs for hire for an individual in exchange for 10 million VND.
The Nghe An Provincial People's Court recently held a criminal trial to hear the case against Phan Thanh Lam (born in 1984), residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, for the crime of "illegally transporting narcotics".
Phan Thanh Lam and Ha Thi Thuy lived together as husband and wife. On September 20, 2021, Ms. Thuy bought...ambulanceLet Lam drive the vehicle to transport patients.
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Defendant Phan Thanh Lam and the vehicle used to transport the drugs. Photo: Tran Vu |
On May 10, 2022, Lam transported a woman who had recently given birth from the Que Phong District Medical Center to the border area between Muong Long and Tri Le communes in Que Phong district. There, Lam met Mua Ba Dinh, who asked him to transport drugs. Lam agreed.
On the evening of May 20th, Dinh met with Lam, gave him a cardboard box, and instructed him, "Take this to a customer in Quy Hop, and when you're done, I'll pay you 10 million dong."
Lam placed the cardboard box containing drugs into the ambulance to deliver to a customer. At 10:50 PM, as Lam was driving the ambulance along the Da Quanh slope in Yen Hop commune, Quy Hop district, he was signaled by the police to stop for inspection.
Upon seeing the police, Lam unexpectedly steered the ambulance in a different direction, accelerating and fleeing into an empty plot of land before stopping. The task force apprehended Lam red-handed and discovered a cardboard box in a nearby acacia plantation. The task force ordered Lam to pick it up and hand it over; upon inspection, they found 360 grams of narcotics inside.
At the trial, the defendant testified that he regularly drove an ambulance to transport patients to the hospital. Driven by greed for 10 million dong, he transported drugs for hire.
Regarding the ambulance used to transport drugs, since Ms. Thuy paid for it, the investigating agency returned it to her.
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| Overview of the online court hearing. Photo: Tran Vu |
The trial was conducted online. During the trial, the defendant Lam confessed honestly and showed remorse for his criminal actions.
The court sentenced defendant Phan Thanh Lam to 20 years in prison. As for Dinh, because the defendant did not know the identity or address of this person, the investigating agency had no basis to prosecute him.