Recidivist drug dealer, still claims "being taken advantage of"
(Baonghean.vn) - In court, Vi Van Toan still insisted that he was wronged, that because his family was poor, he was taken advantage of by others to lure and entice.
On October 19, the Provincial People's Court opened the first instance criminal trial of defendant Vi Van Toan (born 1971), residing in Xieng Tam village, My Ly commune, Ky Son district. Toan was prosecuted by the Provincial People's Procuracy for the crime of "Illegal trading of narcotics".
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| Defendant Vi Van Toan in court. Photo: Nhu Binh |
In 1998, Toan was sentenced by the Provincial People's Court to 16 years in prison for "illegally trading in narcotics". While serving his sentence at Prison No. 3, Toan escaped from his cell but was recaptured and sentenced by the Tan Ky District People's Court to 16 months in prison for "escaping from prison". In October 2010, Vi Van Toan completed his prison term and returned to his hometown.
At around 9pm on June 10, 2018, Toan was at home when two men named Minh and Tuan came and said they wanted to buy two heroin cakes for 290 million VND. The next afternoon, Toan called Lau Ba Xong (a Laotian) to order two heroin cakes.
On the morning of June 12, Xong called Toan to come see the drugs. The two sides agreed on a price of 125 million VND/cake. Xong’s underlings would bring the drugs to Toan’s house and deliver them.
On the morning of June 13, Minh called Toan to inform him that he would come pick up the drugs in the afternoon. While the two were talking, the police rushed in, arrested Toan, and seized two bricks of heroin. Taking advantage of the moment, Tuan and Minh escaped.
At the trial, the defendant Toan claimed that because he was poor, he was lured and enticed into drug trafficking. Toan claimed that the two subjects named Minh and Tuan had deliberately set a trap to put him in prison.
The panel of judges determined that the investigation, questioning and public debate at the trial had sufficient basis to affirm that the Provincial People's Procuracy's prosecution of Vi Van Toan was the right person, the right crime, the right law, and not unjust.
Considering the case comprehensively, the People's Court sentenced Vi Van Toan to life in prison.
