Ho Chi Minh City's Ha Danh Nam and 10 people were sentenced to death for buying and selling large amounts of drugs in the VN10 project; At least 20 others received life sentences.
On September 3, after two weeks of trial and deliberation, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Ha Danh Nam, 52 years old, from Nghe An, and 10 people to the death penalty for illegally trading in drugs, with an additional fine of 50-100 million VND for each person.
Hoang Sy Thang and his nephew-in-law Bui Van Anh, both from Nghe An, and nearly 20 other defendants were sentenced to life in prison for illegally trading or transporting narcotics.
Singer Chi Dan, model An Tay and the remaining defendants received one year and 6 months of suspended prison sentence, up to 29 years in prison for one or a group of crimes: Illegally transporting drugs, Illegally buying and selling drugs, Organizing illegal use of drugs, Illegally storing drugs, Not reporting crimes, Concealing crimes and Illegally seizing property.
According to the court, the indictment accuses the defendants of the right person, the right crime and has grounds. The case has a mastermind and leader and participants as accomplices, so the punishment is differentiated according to the location and level of conduct in each branch.
The jury said it would apply the principle of strictly handling the leader, who plays the main role, and consider leniency for accomplices with extenuating circumstances.
When assessing the sentence, the court assessed that most of the defendants were sincere in their statements and repentant. As for Nam, the three defendants are wanted and Vu Hai Anh did not admit the crime.
Drugs hidden in toothpaste tubes
The jury determined that Ha Danh Nam played an important role, involving many branches in the ring.
In early January 2023, Nam hired Hoang Sy Thang, 39 years old, to receive packages from abroad, in which drugs were hidden in toothpaste tubes, mixed with consumer goods. Thang invited his nephew-in-law Bui Van Anh to participate in receiving and delivering goods.
By early March 2023, Nam had successfully transferred 7 trips to Thang in this way. Thang directly received and distributed the drugs and then directed Anh to hand them over to sales contacts.
In addition to hand-carrying, Nam also brought drugs to Vietnam via international express delivery service. Packages are sent from France to Hanoi, then delivered to recipients in many localities.
Nguyen Huy Hoang was identified as the leader of one of the branches distributing and consuming large amounts of drugs from Nam.
The court assessed the case as particularly serious. The defendants disguised drugs in essential goods and items; taking advantage of consignment and delivery services; using highly secure messaging apps and unofficial bank accounts to hide activities.
From 4 suitcases of flight attendants to a drug case worth nearly 29,000 billion VND
The line was discovered on the morning of March 16, 2023, when Tan Son Nhat airport customs detected unusual signs through the luggage scanner of 4 flight attendants. Checking the suitcases, the authorities found more than 8 kg of ecstasy, more than 3 kg of ketamine and cocaine.
From the incident, Ho Chi Minh City Police coordinated with other forces to establish the VN10 case and expand the investigation of those involved. The investigation agency later determined that there was no basis to criminally prosecute the four flight attendants.
According to the prosecution, the ring was organized into many layers to hide the leader, with a transaction cash flow of nearly 29,000 billion VND. During the expansion of the project, more than 2,700 defendants were prosecuted in 477 cases; The case being tried alone has 227 defendants.
PC04 Ho Chi Minh City Police also discovered and arrested many people supplying drugs for groups related to singer Chi Dan and model An Tay to use.
