Transporting 'candy', two friends 'led each other' to jail
(Baonghean.vn) - Even though he knew the "candy" packages that Binh put in the corn bag were drugs, Chien still delivered them to customers.
On May 17, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of two defendants, Nguyen Huu Binh (born 1997), residing in Hung Yen Nam commune, Hung Nguyen district, and Dang Van Chien (born 1999), residing in Cong Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district, for the crime of "Illegal transportation of narcotics".
Nguyen Huu Binh was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison for the crime of "Theft of property”. During his sentence, Binh met a man named Ha. In November 2018, during a chance meeting in Hanoi, Ha said she was preparing to go abroad and asked Binh to receive drugs sent from abroad. Binh agreed, so the two exchanged phone numbers.
 Two defendants at trial. Photo: Tran Vu |
On September 9, 2020, Ha called to inform Binh that she had sent drugs and money. At 7:00 p.m. the same day, Binh went to Ben Thuy 1 bridge to meet a young man to receive a "gift box sent from England" and 5 million VND in wages.
Binh took the drugs to Dang Van Chien's rented room in Hung Dung ward (Vinh city). At that time, Chien was not at home so Binh borrowed the room to stay for one night.
The next morning, Chien came home and saw the cardboard box, so he asked Binh “What is it?” Binh replied “illegal goods.” “What are illegal goods?” Chien continued to ask, and Binh said “candy.” Then, Binh took out the drugs, put them in his backpack, put them in the attic, and went home.
At 3:00 p.m. on September 13, 2020, following Ha's instructions, Binh asked Chien to buy 2 bags of corn to put the drug packages in.
After that, Chien took the corn bag to park on the bus but failed. When Chien brought the corn bag containing drugs back to his room, he was arrested by the police. At 10 pm that same day, Nguyen Huu Binh turned himself in to the police. The evidence of the case was more than 800 grams of drugs.
At the trial, defendant Binh initially stated that he only knew that it was contraband that Ha had asked him to transport. But later, the defendant admitted to transporting drugs.
Defendant Chien confessed throughout the trial that he only knew it was contraband and not drugs.
The panel of judges determined that although at the trial, defendant Chien did not admit to transporting drugs, based on the record of the arrest of the offender in the act, Chien's confession consistent with Nguyen Huu Binh's testimony, the seized evidence and other documents, there was sufficient basis to determine that Chien was an accomplice of Binh in this case.
Considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced Nguyen Huu Binh to life in prison and Dang Van Chien to 20 years in prison for "Illegal transportation of narcotics".
