Transporting more than 3 billion drugs from Nghe An to Hanoi, 3 hired carriers received death penalty

On November 26, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial against Hoang Van Hai (30 years old), Trang A Vu (28 years old), and Thao A Su (28 years old), all residing in Pac Nam district, Bac Kan province, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking".

According to the case file, in early April 2020, Hai used Facebook to make friends with Xau (a Laotian). Through conversation, knowing Hai had difficult circumstances, Xau hired him to transport drugs from Nghe An to Hanoi and would receive 80 million VND in wages.

3 defendants sentenced to death. Tran Vu

Xau told Hai to find another person to go with him, and that person would be paid 80 million VND. Hearing what Xau said, Hai invited Su to go with him. When he learned that transporting drugs would earn him 80 million VND, Su agreed. After that, Xau contacted Hai to give him instructions on how to get to Nghe An to receive the drugs. Hai informed Xau that Su was going with him.

Following Xau's instructions, Hai and Su took a bus from Bac Kan to Muong Xen town, Ky Son district (Nghe An). On the morning of May 7, Hai and Su arrived at Muong Xen town, rented a motel and waited for Xau's further notice.

In another development, around March, Vu used Facebook to make friends with a Laotian man. This man hired Vu to go to Ky Son district to transport drugs to Hanoi and would receive 80 million VND as a salary. The Laotian also told Vu that there would be 2 other people accompanying him to assist in transporting the drugs.

On the afternoon of May 6, following the instructions of the Lao people, Vu took a bus to Nghe An. At noon on May 9, Xau sent Vu's phone number to a man in Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district to deliver the drugs. At 11:00 a.m. the same day, the Lao people told Vu to go to Khe Nan bridge, Chieu Luu commune, where two other people would come to receive the drugs. When they met, Hai, Su and Vu realized they were transporting drugs for the same person.

At around 8:00 p.m. the same day, Hai, Su, and Vu were taken by two men into the forest to retrieve three backpacks containing 20 heroin cakes weighing 6,907 grams; 20 drug packages weighing 19,951 grams; and four drug packages weighing 3,981 grams. While Hai, Su, and Vu were waiting for a bus to Hanoi, they were discovered and caught red-handed by the Ky Son District Police.

In court, the defendants admitted all their crimes. The three defendants said that for the money of 80 million VND, they agreed to go to Nghe An to transport drugs for Xau. However, the three did not know who Xau was or where he lived. The three defendants cried and asked for a lighter sentence so they could return to their wives and children.

With an especially large amount of drugs, the three defendants Hoang Van Hai; Trang A Vu; Thao A Su were sentenced to death for the crime of illegal transportation of drugs.