How was the illegal online military weapons trafficking ring discovered?

The subjects include Sam Van Cong (born in 2000, residing in Tan An commune, Van Ban district, Lao Cai province) who was proposed to be prosecuted for the crimes of "Illegal manufacture, storage, use, and trading of military weapons" and "Illegal storage and trading of explosives"; Le Van Hoang (born in 1998, residing in Phuoc Long ward, Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa province); Pham Hien Vinh (born in 1988, residing in Ke Sach town, Ke Sach district) and Dao Khuong Cuoc (born in 1988, residing in Thanh Phu commune, My Xuyen district, Soc Trang province) who were also proposed to be prosecuted for the crime of "Illegal trading of military weapons".

Around the beginning of March 2024, a number of clips appeared on the internet, posting images and videos advertising the sale of weapons and support tools such as military guns, military ammunition, hunting guns, knives, and swords. The above clips have attracted special attention from the public, especially young people... Through the work of grasping the situation on the internet, Van Ban District Police in coordination with the Department of Cyber Security and Prevention of High-Tech Crime and the Department of Investigation Security of Lao Cai Provincial Police have grasped the above information.

Police arrested and searched the house of Sam Van Cong.

Implementing the direction of the Director of Lao Cai Provincial Police on propaganda, mobilizing the entire population to hand over and fight against crimes, violations of the law on weapons, explosives, and supporting tools, the reconnaissance units of Lao Cai Provincial Police have synchronously deployed professional measures to solve the case. After a period of persistent investigation, the police agency has built a portrait of the suspect, Sam Van Cong. "Cong is knowledgeable about guns and ammunition, in addition to buying and selling military weapons, the subject also manufactures weapons. To avoid detection by the authorities, the subject has many sophisticated tricks to deal with it, such as using fake accounts to post information..." - talking about the difficulties in the process of fighting the case, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan Diep, Deputy Head of the Investigation Security Department of Lao Cai Provincial Police said.

After a period of monitoring, based on collected documents, at around 6:00 p.m. on March 12, the Investigation Security Department of Lao Cai Provincial Police in coordination with Van Ban District Police deployed forces to arrest Sam Van Cong for the acts of "Illegal manufacture, storage, use, and trading of military weapons" and "Illegal storage of explosives". During the search, the Investigation Security Department of Lao Cai Provincial Police seized evidence including: 1 Colt M1911A1 gun, 22 Colt M1911A1 bullets; 15 AK bullets, 44 military bullets and many other weapon manufacturing tools.

During the investigation, Cong confessed that at the end of 2023, he had purchased various types of shells, bullets, explosives, and gunpowder from many different people he knew on social networks like Facebook and Telegram. After purchasing the materials, Cong attached the fire beads, filled them with gunpowder, etc., and then made them into complete bullets. According to Cong's statement, from October 2023 until he was discovered, Cong had manufactured about 200 rubber gun bullets and about 150 military weapon bullets. Of these, he had sold about 180 rubber gun bullets. Cong also confessed that he had used a Colt gun to fire about 50 to 60 bullets that he had purchased and made himself... In addition, Cong confessed that he had been buying knives, swords, and machetes from China to sell for profit for many years, then used his Facebook account to sell them on social networks. Regarding the Colt M1911A1 gun, it was openly purchased from an acquaintance on social media... By piecing together information, the detectives identified a suspect in Khanh Hoa, but it is very difficult to determine who the suspect is and where he lives.

Evidence seized by the police at Sam Van Cong's house.

Following the direction of the Lao Cai Provincial Police Department, a working group of the Lao Cai Provincial Police Department of Investigation Security was present in Khanh Hoa province to conduct a review. After more than a day of review, on March 14, the working groups in Khanh Hoa identified the suspect as Le Van Hoang. "When first summoned by the Investigation Agency, Hoang did not confess to the crime.

Before and after, Hoang claimed that he did not know Cong. However, during the process of contacting Hoang, along with presenting the collected evidence, the detectives persuaded and persuaded the subject to confess to the crime" - Lieutenant Colonel Diep recalled. During the search, the Investigation Security Agency of Lao Cai Province Police seized 8 bullets of various types from Hoang, he claimed that an acquaintance on social media gave him the bullets since 2022 to collect...

After arresting Hoang, officers from the Investigation Security Department continued to search for the remaining link in the chain. The investigation process encountered many difficulties because the subjects only communicated with each other through social networks, the area that needed to be verified was very wide, and the crimes of the subjects were inter-provincial in nature. Using professional measures, the working group built a portrait of the suspect, Pham Hien Vinh, residing in Soc Trang province, and organized the arrest. At the police station, Vinh confessed to buying a Colt M1911A1 gun from an acquaintance in Soc Trang province. In addition, Vinh also confessed to buying more than 200 bullets of various types from some acquaintances on social networks... From Vinh's testimony, the working group of the Investigation Security Department of Lao Cai Provincial Police identified the subject who sold the gun to Vinh as Dao Khuong Cuoc, and at the same time verified and arrested Cuoc in Soc Trang province.

Around September 2023, Vinh got to know Cuoc through an acquaintance. Through the exchange, Vinh learned that Cuoc had a K54 gun left by his father. At that time, Vinh was looking for a military gun to collect, so he asked Cuoc to show him the gun. That time, the transaction between Vinh and Cuoc failed because after viewing it, Vinh determined that it was not a K54 gun but a Colt M1911A1 gun. Another reason was that the gun was old and the two sides had not agreed on a selling price, so Cuoc took the gun home to keep. After that, Vinh used his personal Facebook account to contact Hoang's Facebook account to discuss and negotiate the sale of the Colt M1911A1 gun. After the discussion, Hoang agreed to buy the gun for 25 million VND. After a customer bought the gun, Vinh contacted Cuoc and agreed to buy the gun for 13 million VND. Vinh asked Cuoc to film and take pictures of the gun with information as Hoang requested; At the same time, this subject transferred more than 2 million VND to Cuoc to order a gun... In the above video, Vinh transferred it to Hoang for Hoang to use when someone asked to buy a Colt M1911A1 military gun.

Around September 2023, because he wanted to have a military gun to use, then take photos and videos of using the military gun and post them on Facebook to attract "views" and "likes", Cong contacted Hoang to buy the above gun. Then, at Hoang's request, the subjects used Telegram to exchange information; the two sides agreed to buy the gun for 40 million VND... As for Vinh, after receiving the money, the subject contacted Cuoc to buy the gun. Then, Vinh hired a motorbike taxi driver in Ke Sach town, Ke Sach district to meet Cuoc to hand over the money and receive the gun. After receiving the above gun, Vinh disassembled it into 4 parts and sent it to Cong by post. After receiving the packages sent by Vinh, Cong reassembled the components into a complete gun. After that, the subject took it out to test fire several times...

cand.com.vn

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