Life sentence increased for young man who smuggled drugs from Hai Phong to Nghe An

The High People's Court in Hanoi has just opened a criminal appeal trial of defendant Lu Van Hoi (born in 1990, residing in Chau Phong commune, Quy Chau district) at the People's Court of Nghe An province for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

According to the indictment, around the end of February 2019, a man claiming to be Dung, from Hai Phong City, called Lu Van Hoi to get acquainted. Five days later, Dung called Hoi and asked: “Is there anyone in Nghe An selling drugs? I need to buy some.” Hoi replied: “I don’t know. If you come in, I will take you there.”

Defendant Lu Van Hoi. Photo: Tran Vu

In early March, Dung went to Nghe An and met Hoi in Ban village, Chau Phong commune. At the meeting point, Hoi took Dung to the house of Lo Thi Nhung (born in 1983, living in the same village). At Nhung's house, Dung asked Hoi and Nhung to buy 1 kg of crystal meth and 4 packets of pink phien for 180 million VND. Hoi and Nhung agreed.

Nhung told Hoi that she would take care of the drug purchase. On April 3, Nhung took 100 million VND by bus to Que Phong district. Upon arrival, Nhung walked up the hill and met a Mong man who bought 1 kg of crystal meth and 4 packets of pink phien. Nhung took the "goods" and hid them in the forest near her house.

At around 6pm that same day, Nhung informed Hoi that she had drugs. On the morning of April 5, Nhung told Hoi to call Dung to arrange a location and time for the delivery of the “goods” and promised Hoi that she would pay him 20 million VND after the job was done.

Hoi called Dung to arrange to deliver drugs at the crossroads of the trail in Dong Hieu ward, Thai Hoa town. At 7:00 p.m. the same day, when Nhung had just given drugs to Hoi to deliver, she was caught red-handed by Thai Hoa town police.

At the first instance trial, Lu Van Hoi and Lo Thi Nhung admitted all their crimes. The court sentenced Lo Thi Nhung to life in prison and Lu Van Hoi to 20 years in prison for “Illegal drug trafficking”.

After the first instance verdict, the defendants did not appeal, but the People's Procuracy of Nghe An province appealed to increase the sentence for Lu Van Hoi. The Procuracy said that in this case, the two defendants committed the same crime, but Hoi only received 20 years in prison, which was too light compared to his accomplice.

At the appeal court, defendant Hoi argued that he was only assigned work by Nhung, not the mastermind of the case, so he asked the court to uphold the original verdict. The appeal court determined that defendant Lu Van Hoi was the one who connected with the subject in Hai Phong to carry out the large-scale drug trafficking.

Although the defendant was aware that his crime was dangerous, he still participated in drug trafficking, so the court accepted the appeal of the People's Procuracy, increasing the sentence for Lu Van Hoi from 20 years in prison to life in prison for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".