The 95-day-and-night escape of a drug lord

Escape

On August 16, 2017, using professional measures, the authorities caught red-handed a drug trafficking ring including: Le Duc Giang (born in 1993), residing in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district; Pham Quang Tien (born in 1992), residing in Dien Phuc commune, Dien Chau district; Cao Tuan Tu (born in 1985), residing in Dien Hoa commune, Dien Chau district, and Le Van Tu (born in 1994), residing in Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district. The seized evidence included 6 sacks of marijuana (weighing 99kg) and 1 bag of crystal meth and pink pills (weighing more than 3.1kg). At that time, Giang also brought his wife and 10-month-old child along to cover up the authorities.

It is worth mentioning that, through the statements of the subjects, Le Duc Giang was actually just one of the hired hands, a link in the drug ring from Laos to Vietnam and was on its way to transport to the northern provinces. All subjects confessed that they had received instructions from the "ringleader" and were completely unaware of the specific route. At this point, the investigators determined that the arrest of the above ring had accidentally "startled the snake and the grass" causing Nguyen Anh Thao (born in 1983, from Hung Yen province), who all four subjects confessed to, to escape. Immediately, all information about Nguyen Anh Thao was collected by the investigators. He was identified as the leader of the ring transporting large quantities of marijuana and crystal meth.

Reviewing the case file, detectives determined that Nguyen Anh Thao had established a drug trafficking and transportation network with a large quantity of drugs from Laos to Vietnam. This drug “boss” had attracted many subjects to participate in transporting “white goods” from Laos to Nghe An to sell in the northern provinces. Faced with the huge profits from drug trafficking, many subjects soon became important “links” in the drug trafficking network led by Thao.

In another development, as soon as he heard that all four of his juniors had been captured, Nguyen Anh Thao quickly “fleeed away” with a very cunning way of hiding. He constantly changed locations, moving his residence across provinces and cities from North to South to avoid being chased by the authorities.

After a period of searching for the subject without results, on December 11, 2017, the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department of Nghe An Police issued Wanted Decision No. 01 against Nguyen Anh Thao for the crime of illegally transporting drugs.

With the determination to successfully capture the especially dangerous wanted subject Nguyen Anh Thao, a special project codenamed 668T was established. The special project team focused on capturing this subject. The detectives had to go through many hardships and difficulties for a long time, from persistently sticking to the area to closely monitoring all movements of the subject. No matter when, where, as soon as there was a report, they quickly set out to verify; from the subject's birthplace in Thanh Tri, Hanoi to provinces and cities from North to South.

Caught in the net

During the investigation, the Drug Crime Investigation Police Department of Nghe An Police determined that after escaping, the subject was very cunning in moving locations, constantly changing his residence throughout provinces and cities from North to South such as Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hanoi... In particular, with a rather attractive appearance, skillful speaking skills, and willingness to spend money, Thao dated many beautiful young girls at the same time. He only stayed in each location for a few days and used a girl as a cover, renting a room or house to avoid being exposed.

Thanks to the good work of gathering information from the grassroots and using sharp professional measures, in February 2018, the detectives discovered that Thao was living with a woman in Long Bien District, Hanoi. Immediately, the Special Investigation Committee sent a working group to Hanoi, coordinating with Long Bien District Police to conduct an investigation and check. However, the subject was very cunning and had a wide network of relationships, so he "sniffed out" and quickly escaped.

However, with the spirit of determination to fight crime to the end, the detectives in the task force were not discouraged, determined to investigate, verify, and monitor all movements of the subject, not giving him a chance to be at large outside the law.

Continuing to persistently verify and search for clues about the subject, on March 14, 2018, the detectives obtained extremely important information, Thao is currently appearing on Thuy Khue Street, Buoi Ward, Tay Ho District, Hanoi, about more than ten kilometers from Long Bien District.

Realizing that the opportunity to solve the case had come, on the morning of March 15, 2018, a working group immediately set out to Tay Ho district, coordinating with Buoi ward police and Tay Ho district police to focus on investigating and checking the subject throughout the ward. Using professional measures, the detectives quickly identified the specific residence where Nguyen Anh Thao was hiding. That was house number 559 on Thuy Khue street, a house with two facades and many rooms, rented by a young woman. Currently, this person is living with Thao.

Through surveillance, the authorities discovered that Thao was extremely vigilant, staying in a separate room all day and the house was always locked. Even when eating, Thao did not leave the house but called someone to bring food.

Because the house door was always closed and there were surveillance cameras outside, it was very difficult for the reconnaissance force to approach the target. In that situation, the task force had a specific plan to avoid any mistakes. Accordingly, the task force deployed forces to ambush around the house, waiting for the right opportunity to successfully capture the subject.

After many hours of persistently lying in wait and monitoring, at around 7:00 p.m. on March 15, waiting for the woman to open the door to get food, the police force immediately raided the house, controlled and arrested the subject while he was hiding in a separate room. Nguyen Anh Thao was officially arrested 95 days after the arrest warrant was issued.

Immediately afterwards, the task force escorted the subject to the headquarters of the investigation agency to investigate and clarify. Here, with convincing evidence from the investigators, the subject admitted to all criminal acts. In addition, Thao also stated that since his escape, he has regularly followed information on the media to grasp all information related to the investigation and arrest of drug crime lines and subjects by the police force, especially subjects in the drug lines he established.

Plead guilty

On the morning of August 22, 2018, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Nguyen Anh Thao (born 1983, hometown Hung Yen) for the crimes of "Illegal drug trafficking" and "Illegal possession of drugs".

Thao confessed that she hired Tien and Tu to transport 2 sacks of marijuana equivalent to 33kg from Cau Treo Border Gate (Ha Tinh) to Hanoi to resell. Thao paid Tien and Tu 55 million VND for the transportation fee.

On August 16, 2017, Thao hired Tu and Tien to go from Dien Chau to Cau Treo Border Gate to receive from the Lao people 6 sacks of marijuana weighing 99kg and 3126.8 grams.drugOn the same day, Thao hired Giang and Tu to transport the drugs Tien received from Cau Treo Border Gate to Hanoi, paying 50 million VND. At 11:45 a.m. on August 16, 2017, when Giang's car arrived at Thanh Chuong District - Nghe An, it was caught red-handed by the police.

After Giang and Tu were arrested, Tien and Tu went to the police station to confess their crimes. Nguyen Anh Thao fled immediately afterwards. However, at the time of her arrest, Thao was also caught red-handed in possession of 4.83 grams of drugs. Therefore, Nguyen Anh Thao committed an additional crime of illegal possession of drugs.

At court, defendant Nguyen Anh Thao admitted all of his crimes. The panel of judges determined that this was an especially serious case, and that the defendant's actions had negatively affected social life; therefore, the defendant's actions must be severely punished. Considering the case as a whole and taking into account some mitigating circumstances, the panel of judges sentenced the defendant to life in prison for the two crimes mentioned above.

An Quynh