Death sentence for 3 'shippers' delivering drugs from Nghe An to Hanoi

On March 29, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of four defendants, including Ly A Po (born in 2000), Vu A Thang (born in 2001), Giang A Minh (born in 1999), all residing in Na U commune, Dien Bien district (Dien Bien province), and Mua A Vu (born in 1988), residing in Na Son commune, Dien Bien district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

According to the case file, on December 3, 2020, Po received a call from a Laotian to hire him to transport 80 heroin cakes and 50 kg of crystal meth from Hanoi to Nghe An and would receive 500 million VND in wages. The Laotian also asked Po to find someone who knew how to drive to transport the "goods".

Defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu

Po then persuaded Minh to join. Po continued to invite Thang to go with him to drive, but at first he refused. However, after learning that the Lao people would pay an additional 300 million VND, Po, Minh, and Thang agreed to join. The next evening, the three took a bus from Dien Bien to Hanoi, rented a motel, and waited for "orders".

At the same time, Mua A Vu was hired by a man named Pao to "go to Nghe An to transport drugs and receive 50 million VND in wages". Vu agreed and followed Pao to Nghe An to wait for Po's group.

On December 5, in Hanoi, 3 subjects including Po, Minh, and Thang received a car and 20 million VND in travel expenses from Pao to go to Nghe An.

On the morning of December 7, the subjects met at a motel in Muong Xen town, Ky Son district. At this time, the subjects learned that they would receive drugs from Nghe An to Hanoi.

In the early morning of December 8, 2020, from the location sent via the phone application, Thang drove the subjects to Noong De village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son district (about 6 km from Nam Can International Border Gate) and met 4 to 5 men carrying sacks of drugs from the forest. After "receiving the goods", Thang drove to Hanoi.

However, when the car reached Tam Dinh commune, Tuong Duong district, it was stopped by the police. The seized evidence was 8 white snake skins containing 150 cakes of white powder (more than 64 kg) suspected to be drugs, and 126 packages of white crystalline substance (more than 175 kg) suspected to be drugs.

During the examination, the Criminal Techniques Department, Nghe An Police concluded: Only 10 cakes (weighing more than 3.5 kg) seized from the subjects were drugs. The remaining samples did not contain any drug components. Therefore, the investigation agency determined that Ly A Po, Mua A Vu, Giang A Minh, and Vu A Thang must be held criminally responsible for transporting more than 3.5 kg of drugs.

At the trial, the defendants admitted to the crimes as charged in the indictment. The defendants explained that their difficult circumstances, due to poverty..., had agreed to transport drugs for hire. Facing the death penalty, the defendants asked the court for a chance to live to rebuild their lives and raise their children.

After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced Ly A Po, Giang A Minh, and Vu A Thang to death. Sentenced defendant Mua A Vu to life in prison.