Death penalty for drug trafficker and 'hot goods' keeper

On February 20, Nghe An Provincial People's Court opened the first instance trial of defendant Tran Quoc Lo (born 1974), residing in Khanh Hop commune, Nghi Loc district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking" and "Illegal possession of military weapons".

Around the end of 2021, while drinking, Tran Quoc Lo bought 2 pistols and 5 rubber bullets for a total of 5.4 million VND from a man of unknown origin for use.

In March 2022, Lo went to Tri Le commune, Que Phong district to buy 3.5 kg of "crystal meth" and 1 heroin cake from a Mong man for a total of 470 million VND. Lo brought the drugs home to hide and sell for profit.

Defendant Tran Quoc Lo was sentenced to death. Photo: Tran Vu

On the afternoon of April 27, 2022, Lo sold Phan Minh Giang a package of crystal meth for 3 million VND. After buying the drugs, Giang went to a field near National Highway 46, in Nghi An commune, Vinh city to use it, but was discovered by the police.

Based on Giang’s testimony, the authorities detained Tran Quoc Lo on an emergency basis. A search of Lo’s home uncovered several packages of drugs weighing more than 3.7 kg. In addition, Lo also illegally concealed a homemade pistol belonging to the military category at home.

Lo is a defendant with a bad personal history, having been imprisoned four times for theft, illegal possession of drugs, and illegal drug trafficking.

At this trial, the defendant admitted to the crime. The defendant said he traded drugs for profit despite having been imprisoned many times.

Facing the strict sentence of the law, the defendant presented his final words: "If possible, please give me a chance to start my life over."

Considering that in this case the defendant committed the crime of buying and selling a large quantity of drugs. Therefore, the court sentenced Tran Quoc Lo to death for the crime of illegal drug trafficking, 2 years in prison for the crime of illegal possession of military weapons; The total sentence for the defendant is the death penalty.

Regarding Phan Minh Giang, because the amount of drugs purchased for use could not be determined, the police decided to administratively fine him 1.5 million VND for illegal drug use./.