Cop sentenced to life for staging drug trafficking charade to effect arrest

Nguyen Quang Vinh, 42, deputy head of the Drug Crime Investigation Police in Viet Tri City, Phu Tho Province, was Tuesday pronounced guilty of "illegally trading narcotics" by a local court.

Two accomplices, local men Nguyen Muoi, 36, and Giang A Sua, 42, received death sentences for the same crime.

The officer's crime came to light after Muoi and Sua were caught red-handed with drugs in July last year in Ba Vi District on Hanoi outskirts by other officers.

Inside their vehicle, the officers found several jars of pickled bamboo shoot but with packs of drugs wrapped in foil. There were 12,000 amphetamine pills.

According to the indictment, Muoi had three prior convictions for extortion, illegally possessing military-grade weapons and drug dealing.

Aware of his criminal background, Vinh met him in May 2024 and told him to procure narcotics from elsewhere and transport them to Viet Tri to "carry out an arrest and gain credit," the indictment stated.

In July Muoi called Sua, a former cellmate, to ask about buying drugs and was instructed to transfer VND75 million (US$2,875).

Vinh claimed not to have the full amount and Muoi even lent him VND30 million.

On July 13, after getting the money, Sua traveled to Laos to buy the drugs.

Muoi and Sua decided the drugs would be delivered at a gas station in Hoa Binh Province on July 15.

After learning about the plan from Muoi, Vinh reported it to his superiors and successfully proposed sending officers to surveil the area.

But during questioning later, Vinh claimed he had only directed Muoi to gather information about drug dealers so that he could arrest them and denied telling him to buy narcotics from Sua.

But Muoi and Sua's testimony contradicted this, and investigators found Vinh had indeed transferred money to Sua.

The Ministry of Public Security's Forensic Science Institute also verified recorded phone calls between Vinh and Muoi.

Prosecutors concluded there was sufficient basis to decide Vinh had been involved in trafficking 12,000 amphetamine pills totaling 1.2 kg from Laos to Vietnam, and the court concurred.

Muoi also claimed that Vinh had ordered him to procure drugs on two other occasions, but investigators lacked evidence to pursue the allegation.