Death sentence for driver from Quang Ninh to Nghe An for transporting drugs

On September 28, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of defendant Tran Van Cuong (born 1991), residing in Tan Viet commune, Dong Trieu town (Quang Ninh province) for the crime of "Illegal transportation of narcotics".

The case file shows that Cuong knew a man named Tung (unknown background and specific address). On January 20, 2021, Tung called Cuong to hire him to go to Nghe An to receive drugs and then take them to Quang Ninh for a salary of 10 million VND.

Defendant Tran Van Cuong was sentenced to death. Photo: Tran Vu

Cuong agreed to meet Tung and received 3 million VND in advance. Then, Cuong drove to Nghe An following Tung's instructions.

At 1 a.m. the next day, Cuong received a phone call from a man who promised to deliver the drugs at Hieu Bridge, Thai Hoa Town at 4 a.m. Cuong arrived at the appointed time and was told by this man that the drugs were hidden between two electric poles near the embankment at the head of Hieu Bridge.

Cuong walked down the bridge and saw a bag of snake carcasses containing drugs, so he took it and put it in his car to go home. At that moment, the Nghe An Police working group discovered and caught him red-handed. The evidence of the case was 4 cakes of drugs and 2 packages of pink pills with a total weight of more than 1,400 grams.

At the trial, the defendant initially stated that he was just a hired transporter and did not know that the goods were drugs. However, he later admitted to the crime. He stated that he worked as a taxi driver and agreed to go to Nghe An to pick up the drugs because he was greedy for profit.

In his final words, the defendant asked the court to give him a chance to live to start his life over and make amends with his wife and children.

Considering that the amount of drugs the defendant transported was exceptionally large, the panel sentenced Tran Van Cuong.death penaltyfor the crime of "Illegal transportation of drugs".

As for the man named Tung, Cuong did not know his background or specific address, so there was no basis to investigate and clarify.