After a drug-fueled birthday party, guests and hosts celebrate Tet in prison

Birthday party with... drugs

The trial of defendants Le Phuong Hong (born 1987), Nguyen Dinh Ba (born 1990), Nguyen Dinh Loi (born 1984), all residing in Nghi An commune, Vinh city; Bui Trong Tuan (born 1982), residing in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city, for crimes related to theillegal drug usetook place on the last day of the lunar year 2021. While Hong, Ba, and Tuan were prosecuted for "Organizing illegal drug use", Loi was brought to trial for "Concealing illegal drug use".

Le Phuong Hong was the owner of the drug-fueled birthday party that was discovered by authorities in July 2021. That was also the time when Nghe An and many other provinces and cities were implementing Directive 16 of the Government to prevent and fight the Covid-19 epidemic. Nguyen Dinh Loi, the owner of the New City karaoke bar that Hong rented to hold the birthday party, was also in trouble with the law.

Nguyen Dinh Loi confessed that he let the subjects sing in the karaoke bar because of "respect". Photo: Tran Vu

On July 17, 2021, with the purpose of buying drugs to use on her birthday, Le Phuong Hong went to Bac Vinh bus station (Vinh city) to buy 6 pills of drugs (worth 2.4 million VND) from a stranger. 4 days later (ie the evening of July 21), Hong brought drugs to New City karaoke bar in Nghi An commune, Vinh city, then texted and called a group of friends, including Bui Trong Tuan... to come to the bar to sing at her birthday party. At the same time, Hong asked Tuan to buy another 2.5 million VND worth of drugs to use at the birthday party.

Tuan has a bad personal history, having been imprisoned many times for crimes related to drugs, illegal detention, extortion, etc. Specifically, in 2005, Tuan was sentenced to 12 months in prison with a suspended sentence for extortion. 7 years later, Tuan was sentenced to 6 months in prison for illegal detention. Then, in 2018 and 2020, Tuan was continuously sentenced to 13 and 15 months in prison for illegal possession and trafficking of narcotics.

At the karaoke bar, after Hong asked about renting a room to sing and use drugs, Nguyen Dinh Ba - an employee of the bar, immediately arranged a room. From 9:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., many of the friends invited by Hong came to the room to sing and used drugs that Hong brought. Hong directly distributed ecstasy to the friends and used drugs and listened to music together.

Defendant Hong confessed to using drugs to celebrate his birthday with his friends. Photo: Tran Vu

Nguyen Dinh Loi, the owner of the bar, did not stop the drug users in the karaoke room, but joined in. The drug users continued using drugs until dawn the next day, when the police raided and arrested them along with the evidence. Among the drug users caught red-handed by the authorities were women under 18 years old. The investigation agency determined that the remaining amount of drugs that the subjects had not used was 2.26 grams.

Both the host and the guest went to jail.

Standing before the witness stand, the defendants admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. When asked why they celebrated their birthday with drugs, Hong stated: “I was once invited by a friend to a birthday party where he used drugs, so I followed suit to “treat” him. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway...”. “What does the defendant do for a living? Where does the money to buy drugs come from?”, the jury continued to ask, and Hong answered: “I am a freelancer, earning about 6.7 million VND per month. I am not addicted, I only use drugs occasionally.”

Defendant Hong expressed remorse for his actions and felt guilty towards his wife, children, and relatives. Hong also admitted that he knew at the time of the crime that the local authorities were implementing strict measures to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic.

Defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

The two defendants Tuan and Ba also admitted their wrongdoings. They said they used drugs with Hong’s group and asked the court to consider reducing their sentences.

Prosecuted for “Concealing the illegal use of drugs”, defendant Loi stated that he knew that at that time karaoke business was not allowed to operate to prevent the epidemic according to regulations, but still opened the shop because of “respect”. “The defendant thought the customers were from the same locality and knew each other, so he rented a room to them”, Loi stated. This defendant also admitted to using drugs with customers in his shop.

The trial panel determined that the defendants’ actions violated the law. The prosecution of the defendants was the right person, the right crime, the right law, and there was no injustice. Considering the role of each defendant in the case, the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and personal background, the court sentenced defendants Le Phuong Hong to 8 years in prison, Nguyen Dinh Ba to 5 years in prison, and Bui Trong Tuan to 8 years in prison for the crime of “Organizing illegal drug use”.

Sentenced defendant Nguyen Dinh Loi to 7 years in prison for harboring illegal drug use. Separately, the subjects who participated in drug use with the defendants in the case were administratively punished according to regulations.

Entering prison at the end of the year, relatives of the defendants hurriedly sent words of encouragement and advice in tears....