Traveling to Nghe An to traffic drugs, the trio went straight to… prison.
Despite being friends and both undergoing drug rehabilitation, Thach and Tri decided to engage in drug trafficking. During their drug trafficking operation, they received invaluable support from Hau.
On August 15th, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a trial to hear the case against three defendants: Le Truong Thach (born in 1990) and Le Quang Hau (born in 1995), both residing in Tien Canh commune, Tien Phuoc district; and Doan Tran Kim Tri (born in 1991), residing in Tien My commune, Tien Phuoc district (Quang Nam province), for the crime of..."Illegal trafficking of narcotics".
Thach and Tri were friends, they knew each other, and they both took Methadone at the Tien Phuoc District Health Center. Because Thach had lived and married in Tuong Duong District (Nghe An province) for a time, he knew that there were drug dealers in that area.
Around the beginning of June 2023, Thach went to Tri's house and invited him to go to Nghe An to buy drugs to sell for profit. Tri agreed, and then invited Hau to join him.
On July 2, 2023, Hau and Thach took a bus from Quang Nam to Nghe An to buy drugs for Tri. The next day, through a money transfer service at a gold and silver shop, Tri transferred 120 million VND to Thach; including 100 million VND for the drugs and 20 million VND that Thach borrowed to buy a motorbike to use for buying the drugs.
After buying the motorbike, Thach took Hau to Dua village, Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district to buy a block of heroin from a man named Po (whose identity and address are unknown) for 100 million VND.
That same evening, Thach and Hau returned to Quang Nam by motorbike with the drugs. While they were traveling, they were arrested by the Nghe An police along with the evidence, which included over 347 grams of drugs.
Based on the testimonies of Thach and Hau, on January 29, 2024, the police arrested Doan Tran Kim Tri urgently.
At the trial, the defendants sincerely confessed to their crimes as charged in the indictment. Three defendants requested the court to consider mitigating circumstances and reduce their sentences.
The panel of judges noted that, at the trial, the defendants admitted to the act of drug trafficking. The defendants' testimonies were consistent with each other, with the testimonies of witnesses and related parties, and with other documents and evidence in the case file, thus providing sufficient grounds to conclude that the defendants committed the crime of illegal trafficking of narcotics.
After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel of judges sentenced Le Truong Thach and Doan Tran Kim Tri to 20 years in prison. Defendant Le Quang Hau received an 18-year prison sentence.
