Who is the notorious gangster Phi 'black'?

The worker overthrew the "boss" to usurp the throne.

Phi “den”’s real name is Le Van Phi (born in 1986), from Trang Son commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An. Gangsters often call him by the nickname Phi “den” because he has dark skin and a tough appearance.

Born in a farming village with a revolutionary tradition in Do Luong district, Phi was a very intelligent, filial boy with many dreams and ambitions when he was young. However, because of a rash decision at the age of 14, Phi's life took a different turn. While watching the family's wine stove, Phi let the fire burn because he thought he would finish cooking early so he could go out. As a result, the wine pot burned and had to be poured away. Phi was scolded by his father, and the most painful thing was when his father called him "stupid". At that time, because he thought that "stupid" people would not go to school, Phi dropped out of school. Angry with his father, Phi did not listen to anyone's advice. After dropping out of school for 3 years, Phi packed his bags from the poor village of Trang Son to the South to work for a living with the honest thought of earning money to help his family make ends meet.

At first, Phi applied to work at some industrial establishments in Binh Duong. At that time, there were fellow countrymen in the area such as “Muoi Thu”, “Tuan Cho”… During a few times being introduced by friends and meeting fellow countrymen, Phi got acquainted with Nguyen Trong Muoi (born in 1978), from the same Trang Son commune as Phi, also known as “Muoi Thu”. Muoi was a famous gangster in the “black triangle” area of ​​Ho Chi Minh City - Binh Duong - Dong Nai. Seeing that his fellow countryman was making a lot of money, Le Van Phi decided to join Muoi as a henchman.

Le Van Phi at the police investigation agency. Photo: HSVA

Phi quickly caught the attention of his seniors. Phi was allowed to participate in all the gangland killings led by Muoi Thu because he was very smart, he always knew what he needed and what he should do. He observed his boss's way of "doing business" and accumulated experience with the intention of breaking away and doing business on his own.

Although under the command of the boss, Phi "black" always held grudges when Muoi Thu "played dirty". In many business deals, thanks toextortion, usurpation, protection... the profits were not shared equally, while Phi himself saw his efforts as more valuable. Phi planned to separate and form his own gang, so as not to depend on or be controlled by the boss Muoi Thu. Phi secretly built a faction to create power, on the one hand looking for a field to "make a living" as well as a territory to operate. Phi thought that only complex border areas were fertile grounds to build a career, so that when something happened, it would be easy to escape. The main fields of practice he chose were debt collection and protection of gambling casinos.

When he had dozens of close comrades and enough power, Phi openly betrayed Muoi Thu. Many years of peace and harmony with his senior, who was also the "teacher" who guided Phi into the profession, were now replaced by hatred.

In 2008, Phi “den” ordered a subordinate to kill Muoi Thu, but luckily the clumsy knife strike of the “inexperienced” subordinate helped Muoi Thu escape death by a hair’s breadth. In early 2011, Muoi Thu was humiliated again when he led his subordinates to “talk” to Phi “den”’s gang, but was blocked by Phi’s subordinates and beaten into chaos. One of the subordinates of the big brother Muoi Thu was beaten to the point of death. Since then, Muoi Thu has been nurturing a grudge for revenge.

At the end of September 2011, the whole An Binh neighborhood was in an uproar when the police force arrested dozens of gangsters belonging to Muoi Thu's gang and dozens of weapons such as knives, tofu, and other homemade guns. It was known that Phi "black" had previously made an appointment with Muoi Thu to fight in the Song Than area (Di An City, Binh Duong Province). Having long resented his insolent fellow countryman, when Phi "black" challenged him, the senior immediately accepted.

Immediately, Muoi Thu gathered dozens of his followers, fully armed, determined to take back the area. Arriving at the appointed time, Muoi Thu and more than 30 comrades, fully armed, ambushed around the alley and entered the meeting place to fight. But Phi "black" was a cunning man, so when he saw Muoi Thu "take the bait", Phi organized a diversion, did not meet face to face, and at the same time reported to the police to capture Muoi Thu's gang.

After this incident, Muoi Thu was imprisoned, the gang was disbanded, while Phi “den” gang was safe, its reputation was widespread, and more and more disciples joined him. In the area, the name Phi “den” became a nightmare for countless people. Dozens of cases continuously occurred in the border area related to his hired killing activities, causing headaches for the police.

Although he had been targeted for a long time, however, with the operational experience gained from the senior generation, Phi was still confident in always creating a safe camouflage for himself. During this time, the investigation agency was still persistent in collecting evidence and petitions from victims denouncing the crimes of Phi "black".

The Price of Arrogance

For a long time, the name Phi “den” was famous in the criminal world of the “black triangle”, causing panic among the masses. Detectives commented that, unlike his predecessors, Phi “den” was not only reckless and “sweet” in his actions, making his victims extremely afraid, but also very cunning, so many times the security forces tried to trap him but could not.

Indeed, Phi "black" is an extremely cunning gangster. After taking action, his gang knows how to erase traces very quickly, especially Phi "black" is always cautious when appearing. Previously, at the end of 2011, Phi "black" was wanted by the police for the crime of "Intentionally causing injury" and many other related incidents. At that time, he hid in the center of Ho Chi Minh City. Here, Phi continued to operate as a protection agent for casinos in District 1 very discreetly with many different covers. Being wanted, Phi "black" disguised himself in many sophisticated ways. When going out, he often wore a police helmet, normally he wore the uniform of the priority sector, so it was very difficult to detect.

With professional measures and persistent monitoring, on the night of March 14, 2012, the Police force of the Ministry of Public Security coordinated with the Police of Di An City (Binh Duong Province) to arrest Phi "black" at a coffee shop in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City for investigation and trial. For his crimes, Le Van Phi had to obediently serve his prison sentence like his brother Muoi Thu.

In 2018, Phi was released but he continued his old ways, gathering his followers to organize protection activities, loans, football betting and lottery. In March 2019, a resident went to Cuong Phat Real Estate Company (Dong Hoa Ward, Di An City) to resolve a previous land transaction, then had a conflict and scuffle with the company's employees, so he left his motorbike and ran away. A few hours later, this person went by car with two other men to return to the company to get his motorbike back, met the company director, and was instructed to go to Di An Ward Police Station to get the motorbike. While the group was on the way to the police station, someone from the company called and told the group to return to the company to get the motorbike.

However, when returning to Cuong Phat Real Estate Company, Le Van Phi and 15 other subjects (hired to handle the case) lined up with weapons to attack and injure people in the car. Afterwards, Phi and his accomplices used electric wire to tie the hands and feet of a person in the car and took him to the Di An Ward Police Station, dropped him on the ground and left.

Through investigation, Di An City Police arrested 15 members of the group of young people who committed the crime. Phi alone fled his residence and went to Ngoc Hoi Border Gate (Kon Tum Province) bordering Laos to escape arrest by Binh Duong Police.

While living in Laos, Phi stole property and was arrested by local authorities.

Le Van Phi was extradited from Laos to the Vietnamese police to investigate several acts of illegal detention. Photo: HSVA.

On November 15, 2021, Le Van Phi completed his sentence in Laos. Lao police transferred Phi to Ngoc Hoi Border Gate (Kon Tum province) and handed him over to the Vietnamese police because Phi was wanted for further investigation and handling of previous cases.

The notorious gangster Phi "black" - the one who overthrew his boss to usurp the throne, has many criminal records for intentional injury, organizing gambling, illegal possession of military weapons, threatening to kill, extortion, and now reoffends with a very dangerous nature. Phi may face a sentence that is enough to bury him behind prison bars for the rest of his life. That is the price to pay for Phi "black's" arrogance, disregard for the law, and disregard for human relationships. The days waiting for the verdict and the years of serving time in prison will hopefully awaken the humanity and the good nature of Le Van Phi since he was born...