The bravery of the green-uniformed soldier on the front line of drug crime prevention and control

Bravely charge into the hot battle front

We had the opportunity to meet Captain Vu Van Cuong when he returned to Hanoi for work. Enthusiastic, dynamic, and full of positive energy were the first impressions that the soldier in green uniform gave everyone.

Although only over 30 years old, Captain Cuong has nearly 10 years of experience working in the specialized force for drug and crime prevention and control, Dien Bien Provincial Border Guard, and has directly participated in hundreds of large and small drug cases. Captain Cuong is considered the "nemesis" of drug crimes in the Northwest region in general and Dien Bien province in particular.

Captain Vu Van Cuong was honored to receive a portrait of Uncle Ho from the late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the program "Ho Chi Minh - Journey of Aspiration" in 2023. (Photo: VNA)

He was born and raised in a farming family in Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province. His childhood was immersed in stories of his grandparents telling him about working as a civilian laborer on the front line, transporting rice to serve the Dien Bien Phu Campaign. And since then, the dream of becoming a soldier of Uncle Ho has been burning in his soul. That desire is the driving force that helps him strive in his studies and pass the entrance exam to the Border Guard Academy with high scores.

In 2015, after graduating from the Border Guard Academy, he was assigned to work at Si Pha Phin Border Guard Station, Nam Po District, Dien Bien Province, holding the position of Team Leader of Drug and Crime Prevention. Being dedicated and working in Dien Bien, a land associated with the historic Dien Bien Phu Victory and the example of many heroic martyrs of the Border Guard such as Tran Van Tho, Quang Van Lien... the young soldier was very excited and reminded himself to strive to overcome difficulties, promote the knowledge he had been trained to complete his tasks well.

Captain Vu Van Cuong confided that at that time, the security and order situation in the border area of ​​Dien Bien province was characterized by a variety of criminal activities, especially drug-related crimes, with sophisticated, cunning, reckless and aggressive methods of operation. Therefore, in the first days of arriving at the unit, he proactively asked the unit commander to survey the area, approach the people to find all measures to overcome the existing problems related to drugs, and gradually stabilize the security and order situation in the area.

Comrade Cuong disseminated information to the people, especially young people, about the methods and tricks of criminals; the harms and consequences of drugs; and how to report and provide information about drug crimes to the Border Guard. (Photo: Provided by the character).

Having held many assigned positions, in any position, he always upholds the spirit of responsibility, "dare to think, dare to do, dare to take responsibility", dare to face difficulties and dangers, is intelligent, brave, and determined to complete the assigned tasks. Captain Vu Van Cuong is considered the "nemesis" of drug criminals when he and his teammates directly discovered, advised, and participated in the arrest, investigation, and handling of hundreds of special projects and cases. Of which, 293 special projects and cases were handled with 382 drug criminals, seizing more than 600kg of various types of drugs and many other related objects and documents; 9 cases with 12 subjects violating the law, seizing 2 military pistols, 1 car, 8 motorbikes, and many related objects and documents.

Each drug case contains many stories about the silent sacrifice of the reconnaissance soldiers, and breathtaking "battles". The fight against drug crimes has never been and will never be without hardship and danger, because this is a war without boundaries, "one loses one wins". No matter how detailed and meticulous the plan to fight the case is, when going into battle, in the moment of life and death, there are always risks and dangers that cannot be fully predicted.

Captain Vu Van Cuong shared that one of the projects that Captain Cuong will never forget is Project DB223. Captain Cuong was assigned to command the main capture team and directly worked with the undercover team to arrest 3 subjects illegally transporting drugs across the border from Laos to Vietnam. During the implementation of the project, he and his teammates had to deploy undercover for many days in extremely difficult mountainous terrain, in conditions of pouring rain, countless mosquitoes and leeches, but the brothers encouraged each other to try hard and determined not to leave their positions.

After many days of surveillance, in the early morning of February 25, 2023, at landmark 106, Thanh Chan commune, Dien Bien district, Dien Bien province, Captain Cuong and his teammates discovered 3 suspicious subjects wearing backpacks, walking from the direction of the Vietnam - Laos border towards the ambush formation. The leader held a flintlock gun in his hand and all three subjects had sharp knives on them. After determining that the 3 subjects were indeed the subjects in the case, Captain Cuong and his teammates secretly approached to control and arrest the subjects. However, as soon as they entered, the leader immediately raised the loaded flintlock gun at him and his teammates. With quick and decisive actions, he and his teammates controlled the subject, neutralizing the gun before he could pull the trigger. The remaining two pulled out sharp knives and slashed wildly in an attempt to escape, but were also controlled and arrested by him and his teammates. Upon inspection, the backpacks worn by Captain Cuong and his teammates contained 7 heroin cakes and 1kg of synthetic drugs in the form of rocks.

“If we had been even a second slower, my teammates and I would not have been able to return to our comrades, our families, our wives and children... Fighting all kinds of crime, especially drug crimes, is always a difficult, arduous and dangerous task. It is a “war in peacetime”, because drug criminals are ready to use hot weapons to fight back madly against the authorities when they are discovered and arrested. And in the fight against drug crimes, some of my teammates have sacrificed their lives, some are disabled for life,” Captain Cuong shared.

Most recently, on April 5, 2024, in the De Bua village area, Phin Ho commune, Nam Po district, Dien Bien province, Captain Vu Van Cuong advised and worked with his teammates to successfully fight against Project DB1223p, arresting 3 subjects and seizing 120,000 synthetic drug pills.

Strengthening people's skills in crime prevention and reporting

Comrade Vu Van Cuong and his teammates ambushed, controlled, and arrested a subject illegally transporting drugs across the border (Comrade Cuong on the right, when he was still a Senior Lieutenant). (Photo: Provided by the character).

To effectively combat drug crimes, Captain Vu Van Cuong shared that the first thing to do is to thoroughly understand the motto of “prevention is the main thing”. With the characteristics of the local population being mainly Mong and Thai ethnic groups, having high community cohesion, honest nature, and strong faith, the level of education is not uniform, leading to a part of the people still having a difficult life. The subjects have taken advantage of this to attract and entice people to participate in criminal activities.

Along with the process of grasping the area, Captain Cuong and his teammates have "differentiated" the subjects, clearly and correctly identified the nature and role of each subject to advise and promote propaganda to the people, especially young people, about the plots, methods, tricks of various types of crimes and the dangers and consequences... that law violations bring, especially drug-related crimes. Along with that, extensive training has been organized in villages to equip people with skills to prevent, denounce, and provide information about crimes to authorities; promote the role of village elders, village chiefs, clan leaders, and prestigious people in villages; enhance the effectiveness of "village security and order self-management teams", "national border marker self-management teams"...

Captain Vu Van Cuong said that the close bond and the building of military-civilian solidarity carried out in a practical and sincere manner by the officers and soldiers in the unit had the power to influence and strongly motivate the national spirit and the people's sense of obeying discipline and the law... gaining the trust of the people, providing valuable information about the activities of suspected criminals, especially drug-related criminals in the area.

In addition, to successfully complete all assigned tasks, he himself as well as each officer and soldier in general and the special reconnaissance team in particular must constantly cultivate and train to maintain a firm stance, ideology, and political will. At the same time, he must constantly study and research to improve his professional and legal qualifications to meet the increasingly high requirements of the tasks in the new situation.

It is known that while on the front of the fight against drugs and crime, Mr. Cuong is as tough and serious as he is gentle, caring and devoted when implementing the "3 stick, 4 together" (stick to the unit, stick to the area, stick to the policies and guidelines; eat, live, work together, speak the local language) with the people. Understanding that the lives of the people in the area are still difficult, in his spare time, he often studies and learns more about agriculture to advise and help people choose crops and livestock suitable to the local climate and soil conditions. Thanks to Mr. Cuong's advice, support and assistance, many households have escaped poverty and have stable livelihoods.

With many outstanding achievements, Captain Vu Van Cuong has been recognized by all levels and awarded many noble prizes. In particular, in 2022, Captain Vu Van Cuong was awarded the Third Class Military Exploit Medal by the President; in 2023, he was selected by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense as a typical advanced model nationwide in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style, participating in the program "Ho Chi Minh - Journey of Aspiration"; the Ministry of Public Security awarded him a Certificate of Merit as a typical advanced model nationwide in drug prevention and control in 2023; 1 of 10 Outstanding Young Faces of the Border Guard in 2022 and 2023; 1 of 10 Outstanding Young Faces of the entire army in 2023; 1 of 10 Outstanding Young Faces of Vietnam in 2023.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/ban-linh-nguoi-linh-quan-ham-xanh-tren-mat-tran-phong-chong-toi-pham-ma-tuy-post523153.html