9X mountain girl leads child trafficking ring to China

(Baonghean.vn) - Vi Thi Loan looks more like a high school girl than a defendant standing in the dock when wearing a white shirt, jeans, and sandals. Because of greed, this mother of one child is taking advantage of the innocence and immaturity of a 15-year-old girl to make illegal money.

To be fair, Loan, born in 1992 (residing in Cam Lam commune, Con Cuong) is quite pretty and knows how to dress to show off her slim, well-proportioned body and fair skin. Born and raised in a poor commune in a mountainous district, the time spent wandering in China has “washed away” all the rustic features of this mountain girl.

After only studying until grade 9, and having no job in her hometown, Vi Thi Loan followed her friends across the border to China to seek her fortune. Loan said she wanted to work as a factory worker there, but the work was hard and the income was low, so she was not interested in sticking with it. During her time in China, Loan met a woman named Hien (whose specific identity has not been determined).

The two often chatted and confided in each other on Zalo. Bored with the “promised land”, Loan returned to her hometown to get married. Loan’s husband was from Vang Mon village, Yen Hoa, Tuong Duong. In her husband’s hometown, Loan quickly became acquainted and close with Vi Thi Nhung (born in 1987), who lived in the same village.

Vi Thi Loan at court

After getting married, Loan still maintained the habit of chatting with Hien on Zalo. Once, Hien told Loan to find a pretty girl and find a way to send her to China to sell. Currently, people there are buying young girls to be wives at very high prices, up to hundreds of millions of dong. Loan confided this to Nhung and asked Nhung to pay attention to see if there was any girl intending to go to China so that Loan could "help".

One day, Nhung called to inform that La Thi Mien (the victim’s name has been changed – PV) residing in Xa Luong commune, Tuong Duong was angry with her parents and intended to go to China to get married. Mien was the cousin of Xeo Van Thong (born in 1992, residing in the same village as Nhung). Thong asked Kha Van Nguyen (born in 1967, deputy of Vang Mon village and also a police officer of this village) to take Mien to China on the condition that she had to pay Thong 130 million VND. Nguyen informed Nhung.

After seeing Mien, Nhung agreed to the price Thong asked. Nhung took a photo of Mien and sent it to Loan. Loan "appraised" it and offered 100 million VND, and promised to pay Nhung and Nguyen 10 million VND each for the work. Thong agreed to sell his cousin for 100 million VND.

On June 15, 2015, Vi Thi Loan took Mien to Vinh City and then took a bus to Mong Cai (Quang Ninh) before illegally crossing the border to China. Loan handed Mien over to Hien. Hien sold Mien to a Chinese man for 70,000 yuan (about 300 million VND), giving Loan half.

After selling Mien, Loan quickly returned to Vietnam, not expecting that just over 10 days later, Mien would be rescued by the Chinese police and returned to Vietnam. At the time of being sold to China, La Thi Mien was only 15 years, 9 months, and 4 days old. As soon as she returned to Vietnam, Mien wrote a complaint against Loan, Thong, Nhung, and Nguyen to the police. Loan and her accomplices were arrested later. Because she was raising a young child, Loan was released on bail pending trial.

During the trial, while the other defendants confessed honestly and showed remorse, Loan remained indifferent to the judge's questions. After the successful transaction, Loan did not pay Thong, Nhung and Nguyen as previously agreed. "Mien ran away, and people came to ask for money from Hien. Hien told the defendant to return the money or he would call the police. The defendant was scared so he returned the money to Hien," Loan explained.

However, Loan’s explanation did not convince the panel of judges. The presiding judge said that there was no evidence that Loan had returned the money to Hien, and that the defendant might have kept the money for personal use. “Do you know that buying and selling children is a violation of the law?” the presiding judge asked. Loan replied “yes”. “Do you know why you sold Mien to China?” the presiding judge continued to ask. Loan remained silent and did not answer. The defendant even refused to say anything before the panel of judges deliberated. During the investigation, Vi Thi Loan confessed to having committed two more human trafficking cases, but at the trial, Loan denied these things.

The lawyer protecting the rights and interests of the victim said that after being rescued and returned to Vietnam, La Thi Mien suffered from serious psychological trauma. She is currently receiving psychological treatment at a center that supports women and girls who are victims of human trafficking. “Fortunately, the victim did not suffer from infectious diseases that victims who were trafficked to China often suffer from. She is currently receiving psychological treatment, but her life is still very difficult. The defendants took advantage of her innocence, gullibility, and lack of knowledge of the law to collude with each other to make illegal money.” Hearing the lawyer’s accusation, Loan remained silent.

The panel of judges determined that Loan was the one who directly took the victim to China to sell to Hien, so Loan was the one who had to bear the main responsibility in the case. The actions of Loan and her accomplices were very dangerous, violating the right to care and protection of children, causing bad public opinion, destabilizing security and order... the defendant must be isolated from social life for a long enough period to demonstrate the strictness of the law. Considering the circumstances, the panel of judges sentenced Vi Thi Loan to 10 years in prison. The remaining 3 defendants were sentenced to 4 to 6 years in prison. In addition, Loan and her accomplices must compensate the victim 15 million VND each.

Leaving the courtroom with a 10-year prison sentence, Vi Thi Loan did not show any emotion. It seemed that, for this mountain girl, those 10 years of youth had little meaning?

Nhu Binh