One killed, four tortured after being tricked into working abroad

Police in southern An Giang Province said Thursday they are working with investigators from the Ministry of Public Security to probe into the ring.

According to police, three men Le Minh Hoan, Nguyen Huu Linh, Nguyen Van Tuan and two women named Pham Thi Tinh and another identified only as Mua contacted Truong Van Chung, a native in central Nghe An Province in August, asking him to organize for them to go to work illegally in Taiwan.

The five laborers, aged between 32 and 39, are residents of the northern provinces of Hai Duong, Ninh Binh, Bac Giang, and north-central Thanh Hoa Province.

Hoan once worked with Chung in Taiwan.

Truong Van Chung at a police station in An Giang Province. Photo by VnExpress/An Phu

On August 25, as guided by Chung and an unidentified woman, the group of five gathered at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, from where they were taken to the Vietnam-Cambodia border in An Giang Province in a seven-seat car.

The same day, the group were smuggled into Cambodia by Nguyen Thanh Hoang, 56, and his son Nguyen Thanh Toan, 31. They were told, they would be smuggled to Taiwan from Cambodia.

Arriving in Cambodia, they were sent to a house in Kaoh Thom District of Kahndal Province.

There several masked people approached with knives and guns, beat them, took their money and mobile phones, tied them up and held them captive.

The armed group then contacted the victims' families via social media accounts to sent videos of them being tortured and demanded ransom.

The families of Linh, Hoan and Tinh sent them a total of VND500 million (US$20,800) while the families of Tuan and Mua were not able to get the money as demanded.

Mua died of brain injuries following the beatings.

The other four were later able to take advantage of the gang's neglect to free themselves, sneak away, and swim across a river to Long Binh International Border Gate in An Giang.

Police have arrested Chung, Hoang, and Toan.

From their statements, police also detained Tran Thiet Thoai and his wife Huynh Thi Ut, who took the five men into Cambodia on August 25.

(From L) Nguyen Thanh Hoang, Nguyen Thanh Toan, Tran Thiet Thoai and Huynh Thi Ut at a police station in An Giang Province. Photo by VnExpress/An Phu

They have also collaborated with Cambodian police to bring the body of Mua back to Vietnam.

One of the victims said they were informed that the cost to work in Taiwan was $6,500 per person and they would only have to pay once they landed in Taiwan.

Police are expanding their investigation.

Cases of Vietnamese laborers inking deals with smugglers to break into other countries and work illegally there is not rare.

In almost all cases, the laborers have no clue of where the smugglers would take them to and how.