Hanoi court gives jail sentences to transnational drug dealers

Pham Van Tai, who was born in 1986 and resides in Mai Dich ward of Hanoi’s Cau Giay district, received a 20-year jail sentence. Nguyen Anh Tuan (born in 1981, Mai Dong ward of Hanoi’s Hoang Mai district) will be imprisoned for 18 years and Nguyen Huy (born in 1990, Cau Den ward of Hanoi’s Hai Ba Trung district) will serve 17 years in prison.

They were sentenced for illegal drug trafficking.

The court imposed a 30-month prison sentence on Nguyen Van Tuan (born 1984, Quang Thinh commune of Bac Giang province’s Lang Giang district) for not denouncing criminals.

The court found that Tai used to live in Russia and was acquainted with a Vietnamese national named Khanh, also living in the country. He returned to Vietnam in 2013 and, together with Khanh, formed a ring to transport drugs to Russia.

Each time he received an order from Khanh, Tai bought drugs and hid them in boxes of goods to send to Russia by air. On May 14, 2015, he hid nearly 200 synthetic drug pills in a coffee box which was found by Russian authorities.

On March 27, 2016, Ministry of Public Security offcers caught two persons on Chua Lang street of Hanoi’s Dong Da district while they were riding a motorbike with two methamphetamine packs weighing nearly 200 grams concealed in an electric cooker.

Basing on evidence collected from them, police arrested Pham Van Tai, Nguyen Anh Tuan and Nguyen Huy. Nguyen Van Tuan fled but was later detained.

From May 2015 to March 2016, Tai and his accessories trafficked 336.62 grams of different kinds of drug and nearly 200 synthetic drug pills, the court found.