Tuan 'the Monkey' was helped to escape by 5 people.
After shooting and killing five people and injuring two others, Le Quoc Tuan, also known as Tuan 'the Monkey', 33 years old, was helped by many people to escape and remained at large for 15 days before being killed by police.
On the afternoon of May 5th, after three months of investigation, the Ho Chi Minh City Police proposed prosecuting 18 people related to Tuan "the Monkey". Among them, five are accused of...Concealing a crime, failing to report a crime.He helped Tuan escape for 15 days while the police were relentlessly pursuing him.
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| Le Quoc Tuan, also known as Tuan "the Monkey". Photo: Provided by the police. |
At noon on January 29th – the 5th day of the Lunar New Year – residents heard multiple gunshots and screams in a longan orchard in Tan Thanh Dong commune, Cu Chi district – the location of a gambling den that had been operating for several days. Four victims died on the spot, and two other young men were injured when Tuan "the Monkey" unleashed bursts of AK-47 bullets into the crowd after a conflict with the gamblers. Earlier, Tuan had lost all his money and asked his cousin, Le Quoc Minh (aka Si Da, 27 years old), to go to his mother's house to get 100 million VND to try and recoup his losses, but the other gamblers refused.
After committing the crime, Tuan took a bag containing over 800 million VND from someone in the casino, climbed onto someone else's SH motorbike, and sped straight to the house of Pham Thanh Tam (aka Ty "Ba Dom", 33 years old) to ask him to deliver the money to his wife. While fleeing, he abandoned the SH motorbike, stole a Nouvo motorbike, and drove to the Phu Hoa Dong commune area. He then threw the motorbike into the Lang Tre canal to erase evidence and hid in the overgrown area along the deserted Provincial Road 15. Hundreds of police officers were mobilized to hunt down the perpetrator.
Early the next morning, Tuan, shirtless and carrying a folding-stock AK rifle, emerged from the bushes and blocked Le Van Hieu's four-seater car. The driver panicked and sped past, but Tuan fired a burst of bullets at the car, luckily not injuring the driver. A short time later, Vo Chi Tam (40 years old) rode past on his motorbike and was shot dead by Tuan, who then stole his old Wave motorbike to use as a getaway vehicle.
Police sealed off several areas, tightening the cordon. Tuan "the Monkey" abandoned his motorbike in the Duong Do canal and swam to the house of his cousins, Vo Hong Tam (31 years old) and Nguyen Duy Thanh (21 years old), in Tan Hoa hamlet, Tan Hiep commune, Hoc Mon district. The three brothers discussed how to conceal Tuan's whereabouts and have him hide there. After providing SIM cards and phones to their cousin, Tam returned to Bien Hoa (Dong Nai), while Thanh went to Cu Chi to meet his older sister, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (31 years old), to ask for her help in Tuan's escape.
The next morning, Ngan went to the company where Ly Van Me (31 years old) worked as a security guard, provided him with Tuan "the monkey's" new phone number, and asked for his help. Me called Tuan several times, topped up his phone credit, and discussed their escape plan. Faced with the intense manhunt by 500 police officers from the Ministry of Public Security, Ho Chi Minh City Police, and other provinces and cities, Tuan decided to stay put. For several days afterward, Thanh and Me tried to help Tuan escape to Vung Tau.
On February 10th, Mè contacted Đặng Trung Ngọc (20 years old, a taxi driver) to ask him to drive Tuấn "Khỉ" to Vũng Tàu. Ngọc agreed for 6 million VND, but requested that Tuấn remove the bullets from his gun and tape it shut to prevent it from posing a danger during the journey. After reconsidering, Ngọc didn't dare meet Tuấn, so the "contract" was canceled.
On the night of February 13th to the early morning of February 14th, Ho Chi Minh City police, in coordination with various forces, surrounded and apprehended Tuan "the Monkey" at a house near Cau Xang Bridge, Binh My commune, Cu Chi district - more than 10 km from where he committed the crime. Upon detecting the mobile special forces team approaching, Tuan pulled out an AK rifle to resist arrest and was killed, ending his 15-day escape.
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| Police sealed off the area and searched for Tuan for days and nights. (Photo:)Huu Khoa. |
Since Tuan "the Monkey" is dead, the Ho Chi Minh City Police have suspended the investigation into the suspect for the crimes of..."Murder", "Robbery, Illegally possessing and using military weapons".
