Motel manager jailed for covering up for employee drug trafficking

Nghe An Provincial People's Court has just opened a first-instance criminal trial to try Lo Hoang Anh (26 years old, residing in Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district) for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking" and Do Minh Nam (31 years old, residing in Son Nam commune, Son Duong district, Tuyen Quang province) for the crime of "Failure to report a crime".

Nam and Anh were drug addicts and met each other during their compulsory drug rehabilitation at a facility in Hanoi in early 2018. After leaving the camp, Nam invited Anh to work as an employee at a motel he managed.

At the end of May 2020, Anh intended to buy drugs in Nghe An to sell in Bac Ninh for profit, so he called a man named Cang in Quy Chau district to buy 5 packages of pink phien for 25 million VND. To have money to buy drugs, Anh borrowed money from Nam, saying it was to take care of family matters.

The two defendants Anh and Nam in court. Photo: Tran Vu

On the evening of May 31, Anh went back to his hometown to get drugs but lied about getting his personal papers done. Because he wanted to go back to his employee's hometown to play, Nam asked to go with him. He agreed and did not tell his manager about going to Nghe An to buy drugs.

Upon arriving at Tan Lac town, Anh contacted a man named Cang several times to discuss buying and selling drugs. Cang asked Anh to buy another heroin cake for 16 million VND and Anh accepted. At 1:30 p.m. on June 1, Anh went to landmark H2/89 to get 5 packages of pink phien (weighing 92.41 grams) and 1 heroin cake (weighing 32.775 grams).

After taking the drugs home, Anh opened them to check. At that moment, Nam walked in and discovered that the employee was holding the drugs but did not report Anh's crime to the authorities.

After that, Anh put all the drugs in his bag and took a bus with Nam to Bac Ninh. When the bus reached Dong Hieu commune, Thai Hoa town, the Nghe An Provincial Traffic Police Department checked and discovered the evidence in Anh's bag.

The investigation agency determined that the total amount of drugs for which Lo Hoang Anh must bear criminal responsibility was 125.185 grams. Do Minh Nam must bear criminal responsibility for the crime of Failure to report a crime.

At the witness stand, both defendants admitted to their crimes. Defendant Anh admitted to buying drugs to resell for profit. Defendant Nam said that although he knew Anh was buying drugs to resell for profit, he did not report it out of respect for his friend. Both defendants expressed remorse and asked for a lighter sentence.

After considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the People's Court sentenced Lo Hoang Anh to 20 years in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking" and Do Minh Nam to 2 years in prison for "Failure to report a crime"./.