Return of additional investigation file of the case of the subject who bought over 2 billion in drug debt

On the morning of August 22, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Lang Van Thai (born 1981), residing in Phuc Son commune, Anh Son district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

During the investigation, Lang Van Thai confessed that due to an agreement to buy and sell drugs with a man named Phuong (residing in Thanh An commune, Thanh Chuong district), on January 11, 2019, Thai went to Laos to buy on debt from a man named May Van (residing in Phi La village, Xay Kham Phon district, Bolykhamxay province, Laos) 8 heroin cakes for 1.2 billion VND (300 million VND/1 pair (2 cakes), 4 packages of crystal meth for 800 million VND (200 million VND/1 package) and 15 packages of pink phien for 35 million VND.

May Van put all of these drugs in a black plastic bag, with a brown cloth backpack on the outside, and gave it to Thai. On the evening of January 17, Thai brought the drugs to the house and hid them in the grass, then called Phuong to agree on the delivery location and sold 1 pair of heroin (2 cakes) for 340 million VND, 1 package of crystal meth for 225 million VND, 15 packages of pink phien for 75 million VND.

On the afternoon of January 18, Thai brought a backpack containing a bag of drugs and hired a taxi to take him to km 742 of Ho Chi Minh road in Thanh An commune, hid the backpack of drugs in the bushes by the roadside and waited for Phuong to come and receive it.

Defendant Lang Van Thai in court. Photo: Tran Vu

Around 10 p.m. the same day, Phuong went to the meeting place to meet Thai. After checking the drugs, Phuong told Thai to go meet Phuong's friend to check the money, so Thai continued to hide the backpack of drugs in the bushes along the road and then went to a motel in Thanh Thuy commune, Thanh Chuong district.

When they met, this person said he was going to see and get drugs, while Phuong stayed at the motel to deliver the money, so Thai called his younger brother, Lang Van Thi, to go to the area where the drugs were hidden to take him home. At about 2:00 a.m. on January 19, Thi arrived at the meeting place, Thai gave the backpack to Phuong's friend and Thi to hold, while Thai drove the motorbike back to the hotel to receive the money. When Thai just entered the room, he was arrested by the police and taken to the scene where the backpack containing the drugs was for inspection and sealing of the evidence. The evidence seized from Lang Van Thai was 2,804.78 grams of heroin and 4,254.87 grams of methamphetamine.

At court, Lang Van Thai did not admit to the crime as stated in the indictment. The defendant stated: "The drugs above do not belong to the defendant." Thai stated that, when the defendant was at the motel, there was also his ex-wife named Tran Thi Hien and Tran Van Phuong (the person the defendant said bought the drugs). The defendant requested the court to summon these people to confront and clarify the matter.

In response to the court's transcripts of his confessions when he was first arrested and throughout the investigation, Thai said he was panicked and forced to confess. "The defendant affirms that only his testimony in court is true, and his previous statements are false," Thai said in court.

After the defendant’s testimony, the panel decided to temporarily suspend the trial for deliberation. After deliberation, the panel concluded that the defendant did not admit to drug trafficking and claimed that Phuong was an accomplice in the case, and that the court could not clarify that information. Therefore, the court decided to return the file to the investigation agency to supplement some contents that needed to be clarified in the case.