Death sentence for 3 subjects transporting nearly 10kg of crystal meth

On the morning of May 23, at the headquarters of the People's Court of Thanh Hoa province, the High People's Court in Hanoi opened an appeal hearing on the appeal for injustice and request for a reduced sentence of 3 defendants in the case of illegally transporting nearly 10kg of crystal meth.

Image of police force arresting Pham Trung Kien, Hoang Ngoc Toan, Trinh Van Huy and the evidence of the case.

The three defendants who filed appeals include: Pham Trung Kien (born in 2001), residing in Lam Son ward, Bim Son town; Hoang Ngoc Toan (born in 1990) and Trinh Van Huy (born in 1996), both residing in Truong Xuan commune, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province.

At the first instance trial held on October 12, 2022, Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Court sentenced Hoang Ngoc Toan to death for "Illegal transportation of narcotics", 5 years in prison for "Illegal possession of military weapons"; Trinh Van Huy to death for "Illegal transportation of narcotics", total unserved prison sentence of 28 months and 10 days in prison, which was tried by Tho Xuan District People's Court on February 20, 2017; Pham Trung Kien to death for "Illegal transportation of narcotics", life in prison for "Illegal possession of narcotics". The total sentence for all 3 subjects is death. Disagreeing with the Court's verdict, the 3 defendants all filed an appeal to reduce their sentences and claimed their innocence.

The first instance verdict showed that on May 2, 2021, Hoang Ngoc Toan agreed to transport drugs from Muong Lat to Thanh Hoa city for another subject in Da Nang for a fee of 80 million VND. During the crime, Trinh Van Huy and Pham Trung Kien accompanied him to help and support the drug transportation.

On the afternoon of May 10, 2021, all three defendants hired a taxi to go to area G9 (Vietnam - Laos border area, in Nhi Son commune, Muong Lat district). Before leaving, Hoang Ngoc Toan also brought a military gun with 5 bullets inside.

When they arrived, after dark, Toan and Huy walked up the hill to the Vietnam-Laos border area to get the drugs. There, Toan gave 800 million VND to a strange man, who gave Toan a snake skin-shaped bag containing 10 bags (weighing nearly 10kg of crystal meth).

At around 5:00 a.m. on May 11, 2021, on the way back to Canh Nang town, Ba Thuoc district, these subjects were discovered and arrested by the working group of the Drug Crime Investigation Department of Thanh Hoa Provincial Police in coordination with Ba Thuoc District Police. When discovering the police force, Toan asked the taxi driver to increase the speed and hit the working group's car to escape.

Seeing that the police force was still pursuing them, Toan directed the subjects to throw the evidence on the road, and he also pulled out a gun and threw it out of the car to destroy the evidence. When they reached Ai Thuong commune, Ba Thuoc district, the subjects were controlled and arrested by the task force.

After taking the subjects back to the scene where the drugs were dumped, the police seized 10 bags of drugs (weighing nearly 10kg), 7 cell phones, nearly 600 million VND in cash, 1 military gun with 5 bullets inside, and many other related exhibits.

During an urgent search of the suspects' residence, the police seized an additional 497.6 grams of methamphetamine, 455.621 grams of ketamine, 1 grenade, 2 military guns, 50 bullets of various types, and many other exhibits.

At the end of the trial, the appellate panel found that all three defendants did not provide any new mitigating circumstances for criminal liability. The sentence applied by the Court of First Instance to the defendants was appropriate to the nature, level and criminal behavior, so it decided not to accept the appeal and upheld the contents of the first instance judgment that the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Court had applied to the defendants.

Dinh Hop

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