Young man receives life sentence for shipping 'white goods' by taxi
(Baonghean.vn) - Using the excuse of needing money to raise a 2-month-old child, Lo Van Pham (Que Phong) was willing to take 4 heroin cakes to Hanoi. While waiting to hire a taxi to deliver the "white goods", the defendant was discovered and caught red-handed by the authorities.
On January 20, 2021, Nghe An Provincial People's Court tried defendant Lo Van Pham (born in 1995), residing in Pha Pat village, Cam Muon commune, Que Phong district, for the crime of "Illegal transportation of narcotic substances".drug”.
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| Defendant Lo Van Pham at trial. Photo: An Quynh. |
Previously, on July 12, 2020, Lo Van Pham rented a car from Pham Anh Dung (residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong) to take his wife and children to his parents' house in Ky Son.
On July 15, 2020, through social networks, Lo Van Pham made friends with a person with an account named "Nhat Kiem". Through conversation, the person with the above account asked Pham "do you want to make money?". Because his wife had just given birth and the family was in financial difficulty, Pham immediately agreed. Pham's job was to receive a bag of "goods" and transport it to Hanoi. After completing the job, Pham's salary was 15 million VND.
On July 16, 2020, Pham called Pham Anh Dung to hire him to take him to work according to the instructions of the person with the account "Nhat Kiem" to receive the goods. When he arrived at Ta Pan bridge, Tri Le commune, Pham saw a black plastic bag covering a tree branch on the side of the road. Because of the agreement between them, Pham immediately put the bag in his backpack and left.
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| Subject Lo Van Pham was arrested with evidence. Photo: An Binh |
Before delivering goods in Hanoi, Lo Van Pham requested to receive payment in advance. The two parties agreed to transfer it tobank accountWhen the agreement was reached, Pham called Dung to rent a car for 3 million VND.
At around 1:00 a.m. on July 17, 2020, when Dung drove Pham to Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau district, he was discovered and caught red-handed by the authorities.
Through examination, 1,396 grams of heroin were seized. Lo Van Pham also admitted his actions to the authorities.
The panel of judges also affirmed that the defendant's actions were extremely dangerous to society, and that if the transaction was successful, it would have caused extremely serious consequences. Therefore, an appropriate sentence was needed to set an example for the community.
During the time the jury deliberated, with the permission of the police force protecting the court, seeing his wife and only son, Pham cried.
After comprehensively reviewing the case, considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the panel decided to sentence defendant Lo Van Pham to life in prison for the crime of "Illegal transportation of drugs".
As for Pham Anh Dung, who was the one transporting Lo Van Pham, because he did not know that Pham was carrying drugs, there is no basis to prosecute Dung. As for the account "Nhat Kiem" who contacted Pham to hire him to transport drugs, because Pham did not know his identity, the authorities had no basis to verify and clarify.
