Life sentence for man who transported 6 cakes of drugs from Laos to Vietnam

On the morning of July 25, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened the first instance criminal trial of defendant Lau Ba Tong (born 1986, hometown Nam Can commune, Ky Son district). Defendant Tong was prosecuted for "Illegal transportation of narcotics".

Defendant Lau Ba Tong in court. Photo: Phuong Thao

According to the indictment, on January 22, 2018, Lau Ba Tong was in Bolikhamxay province (Laos) when three men came and told Tong to transport six heroin cakes to Na Ngoi commune of Ky Son district and would pay 16 million Lao kip. Tong agreed.

When the three men left, Tong went to meet Ly Ba Xia and told Xia to go transport the drugs together, and would split the pay. Then, Tong and Xia walked through the forest into Vietnam.

At about 4:00 a.m. on January 24, 2018, when arriving at Nam Be village, Xa Luong commune, Tuong Duong district, Tong called a man named Cong to deliver the goods. At 5:00 p.m. the same day, Cong met Tong and both of them carried the drugs on a motorbike to Nam Can, Xia walked behind.

At about 6:00 p.m., when Tong arrived at Ang village, Xa Luong commune, Tuong Duong district, he was asked by reconnaissance soldiers of Na Ngoi Border Guard Station in coordination with Nam Can Border Guard Station and the Drug Control Team, Nghe An Customs Department to stop the vehicle for inspection. They discovered 6 heroin cakes with a total weight of 1,952.96 grams in the 2 pockets of Tong's jacket.

At court, defendant Lau Ba Tong admitted all his crimes. The panel sentenced him to life in prison for "illegally transporting narcotics".