Sliding from drugs to guns, mother was stunned on the day her son appeared in court

Being put under drug rehabilitation still goes online to buy guns and bullets

Duong Van Du (28 years old), residing in Nghi Thuy ward, Vinh city (Nghe An) is the third child in a family of 4 siblings. Dropping out of school early and becoming a party animal, Du soon became involved in drugs. When he was only 19 years old, Du was administratively punished by the government for illegal drug use.

Since becoming addicted to drugs, this young man has become even more dissolute. He is also not afraid to hang out with friends outside of society, participating in public disorder. Therefore, at the end of 2016, Duong Van Du was sentenced by the court to 16 months in prison with a suspended sentence, with a probationary period of 32 months for the crime of Disturbing Public Order.

It is worth mentioning that while on probation, the young man was again administratively punished for illegal possession of drugs. Despite being administratively punished many times for drugs, Du still had the same bad habits. In 2019, Du was once again punished for illegal drug use.

From being an addict, he got involved in buying and selling that banned substance. In August 2020, Duong Van Du was sentenced by the People's Court of Cua Lo town to 2 years and 6 months in prison for illegal drug trafficking.

Having lived a life of “prison food and numbered clothes”, Du still did not turn around and start a new life after being released from prison. On the contrary, he followed in his own footsteps. Therefore, on March 25, 2024, Du was administratively punished for illegal drug use. Three days later, the authorities applied measures to manage illegal drug users for this young man for a period of one year.

During his time under government control, Duong Van Du used social media to order a revolver and 5 bullets from an unknown person for 2 million VND. After receiving the gun and bullets, Du hid them in his house.

On the morning of January 22, 2025, the Nghi Thuy Ward Police Working Group, Vinh City, inspected and worked with Du on his drug addiction treatment situation. During the working process, Du voluntarily surrendered his gun and bullets to the police when he realized that his actions were wrong. With the above crime, Du was prosecuted by the authorities for the crime of Illegal possession of military weapons.

At the recent trial, the defendant stated that he bought the gun and ammunition for self-defense purposes, even though he knew that such an act was illegal. When asked by the jury whether he had any conflicts with anyone and therefore bought the gun for self-defense, the defendant replied, “No, but I bought it and kept it there.”

The defendant admitted that he had hidden the gun in his house for several months after purchasing it. During that time, he had not shown it to anyone. The defendant stated that he was aware that his actions were wrong and asked the court to consider reducing his sentence.

Mother's tears on the day her son appeared in court

At the trial, the defendant stated that he had been addicted to drugs since around 2015. Since then, he has been administratively fined and imprisoned many times for drugs. He has also tried to quit his drug addiction many times but failed. Because of his addiction to drugs, although he is nearly 30 years old, he does not have a stable job. The money he earns from working for hire is mainly for his own needs and has not helped much for his mother and family.

“The defendant planned to find an opportunity to work abroad after his drug rehabilitation period ended. He wanted to go abroad to change his life and himself,” Du told the court. However, that plan was crushed by the defendant himself because of his illegal possession of military weapons.

The defendant expressed remorse for his repeated mistakes. These actions not only cost him a prison sentence but also caused his family members to be sad.

Sitting and listening to her son’s testimony in court, the mother, born in 1967, could only keep silent. Her husband passed away nearly ten years ago, and since then she has been raising her children alone. However, the fact that her third child got involved in drugs and went down the drain has made her sad. Surely that mother has advised her son many times to give up drugs, to start a new life, at least to support himself. However, what she has received over the years is witnessing her son being repeatedly fined and imprisoned.

For nearly ten years, her son was addicted to drugs and made consecutive mistakes, causing her to suffer a lot of sadness. Now, when her son is once again imprisoned, she is helpless. In the few moments she had to see her son when the court deliberated, she poured out all her feelings and sent words of encouragement to her son. I wonder if the words of encouragement and advice from that mother will help her son, who has been addicted to drugs for many years, to know how to stop...

Regarding this crime, the panel of judges determined that the defendant's actions were dangerous to society, directly violating social order and safety, violating State regulations on the production and management of military weapons, threatening political security and social order and safety, negatively affecting and causing harm in many aspects to social life, so it was necessary to deal with it seriously. However, it was also necessary to consider mitigating circumstances for the defendant such as self-confession and having relatives who contributed to the revolution.

After a comprehensive review of the case, the People's Court sentenced Vuong Van Du to 24 months in prison for illegal possession of military weapons.

Now, during the months of serving his sentence, will Du reflect on his actions and be determined to “rebuild his life” as he promised many times? Only the defendant can answer this question with concrete actions and deeds.