Death penalty for man transporting more than 7 kg of drugs from Ha Tinh to Hanoi

On July 22, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Do Xuan Hieu (born 1975), residing in Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, for the crime of "Illegal transportation of narcotics".

Around mid-2017, Hieu met Nguyen Van Sang (born in 1990, residing in Phu Ly City, Ha Nam). During their time together, Sang hired Hieu to transport drugs from Huong Son District (Ha Tinh Province) to Ha Nam many times. During the process of transporting drugs for hire, Hieu learned that Pham Ngoc Quynh was Sang's accomplice.

Defendant Do Xuan Hieu. Photo: Tran Vu

On December 10, 2021, Sang called Hieu to hire him to transport 300 packages of pink phien and 2 kg of Ketamine from Huong Son to Ha Nam for 60 million VND. Hieu agreed.

Sang transferred 120 million VND to Hieu, instructing him to go to Ha Tinh to deposit to buy drugs. However, because he did not have enough money, the seller did not accept.

On December 15, 2021, Quynh continued to tell Hieu to go receive the "goods", transferring 14 million in advance for the wages. Hieu went to Vinh City to rent a hotel to wait for the "order" but then had to return to Hanoi because he did not have the drugs yet.

A few days later, Hieu was ordered to go to Cau Treo border gate (Huong Son district, Ha Tinh) to get drugs. This time, Hieu received an additional 6 million VND in wages. Thus, the total wages Hieu received was 30 million VND.

On the night of December 24, Hieu drove his car into Vinh City and also left a motorbike to go to the border area to get drugs.

At 3am on December 27, Hieu was at the Cau Treo border gate. Following instructions, Hieu saw a styrofoam box on the roadside, inside were many packages of drugs.

After receiving the goods, Hieu returned to Vinh. When Do Xuan Hieu arrived at Hung Dung ward, Vinh city, he was arrested by Nghe An province police with more than 7.3 kg of various drugs.

At the trial, the defendant did not deny the crime but admitted to transporting drugs. Justifying his wrongdoing, the defendant said it was due to difficult circumstances and the epidemic.

For the act of transporting an especially large quantity of drugs, the People's Court sentenced defendant Do Xuan Hieu to death.

As for Sang and Quynh, because there is only Hieu's testimony, the investigation agency is investigating and will handle it later.