Woman sentenced to life imprisonment for transporting nearly 30 kilograms of drugs.
Enticed by the promise of 60 million VND in payment, Bounhak Souli Nhong agreed to transport a suitcase full of drugs from the border area to the city. However, upon discovering the large quantity of drugs, Bounhak panicked and became hesitant.
The People's Court of Nghe An province recently held a first-instance trial for defendant Bounhak Souli Nhong (born in 1981), residing in Vientiane (Laos), on charges of...Illegal trafficking of narcotics.
Bounhak Souli Nhong is of Vietnamese origin, his Vietnamese name being Thuong. In 1998, after moving to Laos, Bounhak acquired Lao citizenship.
In 2022, Bounhak met a man named Keo through social media. Keo then offered Bounhak the job of transporting drugs from Laos to Vietnam, but she refused.
On February 11, 2025, Keo contacted Bounhak again, hiring him to go to Xieng Khouang to act as an interpreter for a fee of 10 million Lao kip (approximately over 12 million Vietnamese dong) and promising him money for the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. Hearing this, Bounhak agreed.
The next day, Bounhak flew to the meeting point on his own to act as an interpreter. However, when they met, Keo proposed that Bounhak be paid 50 million Lao Kip (approximately 60 million VND) for transporting drugs from Muong Xen town (formerly Ky Son district) to Vinh City. Bounhak agreed and asked a friend to drive him to the Nam Can border gate to cross into Vietnam.
After entering Vietnam, Bounhak was met by a man who introduced himself as Keo's associate. He drove Bounhak to Muong Xen town to wait for the "goods." During this time, Bounhak contacted and arranged to hire a taxi driver to take him to Vinh for a fee of 2.6 million dong.
At 0:30 the following day, following instructions from Keo's associate, Bounhak got into a car to pick up the drugs. However, upon seeing the large suitcase containing the drugs, which was heavy to carry, Bounhak was scared and didn't dare accept the job. At this point, Keo promised to give him more money over the phone.
The taxi driver noticed something unusual and asked Bounhak what was inside the suitcase. Bounhak lied, saying it contained gold, tiger horns, and bones. Because the passenger refused to let him open the suitcase, the driver declined to take him further.
Bounhak then called Keo to inform him that he couldn't find anyone to transport the drugs. At this point, Keo told Bounhak to bring the suitcase of drugs back to the guesthouse so he could handle it further. However, Bounhak was arrested by the police on the way back.
At the trial, the defendant admitted to the crime, stating that he committed it out of greed for a large sum of money. He expressed remorse and asked the court to consider mitigating circumstances and reduce his sentence.
The panel of judges determined that, based on point b, clause 1, Article 4 of the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Penal Code of 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2025), the crime of illegally transporting narcotics, as stipulated in clause 4, Article 250, carries a prison sentence of 20 years or life imprisonment, which is lighter than the 20 years, life imprisonment, or death penalty stipulated in clause 4, Article 250 of the Penal Code of 2015. Therefore, the court sentenced the defendant Bounhak Souli Nhong to life imprisonment.
