20 years in prison for drug trafficker in herbal medicine package

On March 19, the People's Court of Bac Lieu province opened the first instance trial of the criminal case against defendant Phan Thi Qui (37 years old), residing in Hamlet 1, Ho Phong Ward, Gia Rai Town, for the act of "Illegal trading of narcotics".

The defendant is a drug addict and has no stable job. To satisfy his addiction, the defendant bought drugs from Ho Chi Minh City to Bac Lieu to use and sell for profit.

Defendant Phan Thi Qui at the trial on March 19.

The investigation results and the trial determined that since January 2024, through an acquaintance, defendant Qui was introduced by a subject named Bao to buy crystal meth for sale. The first time, Bao brought crystal meth to Qui's private home in Ho Phong ward, Gia Rai town to sell for 10 million VND and said that the drugs belonged to a person named Thang in Ho Chi Minh City. Bao introduced the two to each other to trade drugs.

After knowing Thang, Qui asked an acquaintance to transfer money to Thang to buy drugs. Thang hid the drugs in a package of herbal medicine to avoid detection by the police and sent a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Bac Lieu at the address of defendant Qui. When the bus company called, defendant Qui came out to receive it as if receiving normal goods and brought it home to hide. Then the defendant sold it to some users.

By the end of February 2024, defendant Qui continued to order 20 million VND of crystal meth. After successfully transferring the money, subject Thang contacted Qui to inform that the crystal meth had been sent by bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Bac Lieu, continuing to disguise it in a package of herbal medicine, with Qui's phone number written on the outside.

At 10:15 a.m. on February 28, 2024, the Drug Crime Investigation Police Team of Gia Rai Town Police in coordination with Ho Phong Ward Police discovered Phan Thi Qui driving a motorbike with license plate 94D1 - 498.94 from Ngoc Anh Garage (Hamlet 2, Ho Phong Ward, Gia Rai Town) towards National Highway 1A; on the luggage rack there was a nylon bag wrapped in clear tape fixed like a herbal medicine bag. The police asked the subject to stop the vehicle for inspection, and as a result, inside the nylon bag were discovered 2 transparent white nylon packages, with a mouth clamped at one end, with a red border, measuring 16cm x 10cm and 11cm x 7cm; each package contained many white, solid crystals, suspected to be drugs. The investigation agency continued to search the residence of defendant Qui and discovered and seized many similar packages. In the Conclusion of the appraisal 29/KL-KTHS dated March 6, 2024 of the Criminal Technique Department of Bac Lieu Provincial Police, it was concluded that the evidence was Methamphetamine drug with a total weight of 149.58078 grams.

Through investigation, Phan Thi Qui confessed that the two nylon packages containing many white crystals mentioned above were methamphetamine, which Qui bought in Ho Chi Minh City for 20 million VND, with the intention of reselling to others for profit. In addition to the time she was caught buying drugs, through investigation, it was also determined that the defendant had previously bought drugs for 35 million VND to resell to others. At the trial, the defendant claimed that she bought the above amount of drugs for her own use and denied selling them for profit. However, based on the documents and evidence in the case, the Trial Panel had sufficient grounds to conclude that the defendant bought drugs to sell to others for use and that when committing the act, the defendant had full capacity to act, committing the crime with direct intent. From there, the defendant was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime of "Illegal trading of narcotics" as prescribed in Point b, Clause 4, Article 251 of the Penal Code.

News and photos: KP

Source: https://www.baobaclieu.vn/tin-tuc/20-nam-tu-cho-ke-buon-ma-tuy-trong-goi-thuoc-nam-99816.html