Pawning a motorbike to get money for drug trafficking.
They met while in drug rehabilitation, and after leaving the center, they embarked on the path of drug trafficking. To get money to buy drugs, Tuan pawned his motorbike for 20 million dong.
On November 14th, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance trial to hear the case against five defendants: Tran Van Tuan (born in 1994, residing in Do Luong commune), Ngo Duc Phi (born in 1991, residing in Tien Dong commune), To Xuan Quynh (born in 1971, residing in Tan Phu commune), Vi Manh Hung (born in 1993, residing in Tam Quang commune), and Nguyen Quoc Bien (born in 1975, residing in Nghia Hanh commune, Nghe An province), all charged with "illegally trading narcotics."
.jpg)
According to the indictment, on the afternoon of April 16, 2024, To Xuan Quynh called Phi to discuss purchasing 100 grams of drugs for 45 million VND. Quynh transferred 3 million VND to Phi as a deposit for the drugs.
Later, Phi contacted Tuan, discussed and agreed with him to jointly traffic drugs to resell to Quynh for profit.
After reaching an agreement, Tuan called a man and ordered 100 grams of drugs for 33 million dong, paying 20 million dong upfront and asking to defer payment for the remaining amount.
Because they knew each other beforehand, shortly afterwards, Tuan, Bien, and Phi gathered at Phi's house to use drugs together. It was also there that Tuan and Phi agreed to pawn Tuan's motorbike for 20 million dong to finance their drug trafficking operation.
Tuan did not go to pick up the drugs himself, but instead asked Hung to receive them. After receiving the drugs, Hung handed them over to Tuan. Subsequently, Tuan discussed with Phi and Bien the plan to sell the drugs to Quynh.
At noon on April 17, 2024, Tran Van Tuan was apprehended by police forces while carrying drugs in Tan Phu commune, Nghe An province.
Expanding the investigation, on May 14th and 21st, 2025, the investigating agency arrested Phi and Bien. As for Quynh and Hung, at this time, both were serving sentences in prison for their involvement in another drug trafficking case.
At the trial, all defendants admitted to their crimes. They testified that they met while undergoing drug rehabilitation. After leaving the rehabilitation center, they reconnected to use drugs together. In this particular crime, Tuan confessed to pawning his motorbike to obtain money for drug trafficking.
The court determined that in this case, defendants Tran Van Tuan, Ngo Duc Phi, and To Xuan Quynh played equal roles in directly engaging in the drug trafficking, and therefore sentenced each defendant to 20 years in prison. Because defendant Quynh is already serving another sentence, she must serve a combined sentence of 28 years and 6 months in prison.
Defendant Vi Manh Hung was sentenced to 18 years in prison; combined with his existing sentence, the total sentence he must serve is 20 years and 6 months. Meanwhile, defendant Nguyen Quoc Bien was sentenced to 16 years in prison.