Trial of former police officer for trafficking 1.9 kg of drugs
(Baonghean.vn) - Nguyen used to work as a district police officer in Nghe An province but was later disciplined and dismissed from the industry. Not long after leaving the industry, Nguyen participated in a drug trafficking case worth more than half a billion VND.
On August 16, the People's Court of Nghe An province opened a first-instance criminal trial of two defendants, Nguyen Dinh Nguyen (born in 1990), residing in Khanh Hop commune, Nghi Loc district, and Ho Quang Dong (born in 1977), residing in Dong Son commune, Do Luong district, for the crime of "Illegal drug trafficking". In addition, Dong was also prosecuted for the crime of "Illegal possession of drugs".
The case file shows that around early December 2021, Dong met Nguyen at a night restaurant in Vinh City. Nguyen introduced himself to Dong as having previously worked at a district-level police unit but was disciplined and expelled from the industry. During his time as a police officer, Nguyen knew a drug dealer and if Dong bought drugs, he would get them for him.
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| Defendant Nguyen Dinh Nguyen (standing) was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Ho Quang Dong to life in prison. Photo: Tran Vu |
On December 14, 2021, Dong contacted Nguyen to buy 2 kg of drugs and was quoted 600 million VND and asked to transfer half the money in advance. The next day, Dong transferred 300 million VND to Nguyen. To have drugs to sell to customers, Nguyen ordered 2 kg from a man named Nhenh in Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, for 540 million VND. After that, Nguyen put 540 million VND in a styrofoam box containing dried fish and sent it by bus to Nhenh.
After receiving the full amount of money, Nhenh sent the “goods” to Nguyen by bus. At around 11am on December 17, Nguyen went to the garbage dump intersection (in Nghi Yen commune, Nghi Loc district) to catch a bus to receive a bag of taro containing more than 1.8 kg of drugs, but was discovered and caught red-handed by the police.
Based on Nguyen's testimony, the police investigation agency urgently searched Dong's residence and seized 1 drug pill. Dong admitted to buying drugs from Nguyen.
At the trial, both defendants confessed and admitted their crimes. Dong confessed that he had just been released from prison and that life was difficult, so he started trafficking drugs. Defendant Nguyen confessed that he used to work as a police officer but had left the industry. Before the witness stand, Nguyen burst into tears, showing remorse for his wrongdoings.
Committing a crime with the aggravating circumstance of recidivism, the defendant Ho Quang Dong was sentenced to life in prison for "Illegal drug trafficking" and 18 months in prison for possession; the total sentence is life in prison. The defendant Nguyen Dinh Nguyen was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
