The People's Procuracy of Ho Chi Minh City has completed an indictment against Nguyen Hong De, Phung Ly Phuc, and 29 accomplices for illicit drug trading, transferring the case to court for trial. At least three defendants face additional charges of organizing illicit drug use, while one is accused of failure to report a crime.

According to the indictment, De began illicit drug trading in 2017. By august 2023, he repeatedly ordered narcotics from an individual named Vay, a Lao national whose identity remains unknown. Each shipment ranged from 20 to 50 kg, priced at 8,200 USD per kg, and was transported to Ho Chi Minh City for distribution. In september 2023, De switched to purchasing drugs from A Che, a Thai national also of unknown identity. Under their agreement, A Che hired individuals to transport narcotics from abroad to Ho Chi Minh City, delivering them to Phung Ly Phuc for distribution to customers as instructed by De.

Investigators determined that from late september 2023 to early march 2024, De and Phung Ly Phuc placed five orders for narcotics from A Che, totaling over half a ton. Each shipment varied from 100 to 179 kg, with prices ranging from 7,700 to 9,700 USD per kg. Buyers transferred payment for the drugs into Phuc's and his subordinates' accounts, who then forwarded the money to De.

Phuc was identified as joining the ring in 2020, tasked with receiving narcotics from De's warehouse for customer delivery, earning 10-20 million VND per month. In 2023, Phuc rented a house on Le Trong Tan Street (formerly Binh Tan District) to serve as a transit warehouse. Here, he received drugs transported by the Lao group into Vietnam and distributed them to various stash houses in Ho Chi Minh City. According to Phuc's testimony, each shipment could contain 100 to 400 kg of methamphetamine or ketamine, along with approximately 20,000-30,000 ecstasy pills. De managed all buying and selling transactions, while Phuc received 100 million VND for each transport operation.

To operate the warehouse, Phuc hired Dang Van Dai as manager, while Lu Trong Nhan and Tran Van Thang were responsible for stashing and delivering the goods. On the afternoon of 26/10/2023, following De's instructions, Phuc brought 249 kg of methamphetamine to the warehouse on Le Trong Tan Street for Dai, Nhan, and Thang to count. Afterward, Phuc handed Dai an additional 5 kg of methamphetamine, 4 kg of ketamine, and a bag containing 147 packets of "grape juice" narcotics for safekeeping and customer delivery.

The indictment states that from late october to early november 2023, Dai personally or instructed accomplices to deliver narcotics to customers as requested by Phuc. Each delivery ranged from one to 25 kg to various individuals in the former Binh Tan District, District 12, and District 6 areas. After Dai was apprehended during a drug delivery on 7/11/2023, police searched the warehouse, seizing approximately 147 kg of various narcotics. Expanding the investigation, authorities subsequently arrested the remaining links in the drug ring.

According to the People's Procuracy, the defendants are criminally responsible for the seized narcotics and the identified transactions in the case. De is accused of responsibility for over 150 kg of narcotics; Phuc for approximately 173 kg; and Dang Van Dai for about 168 kg. In addition to De's ring, investigators also uncovered another branch transporting drugs from Cambodia to the Mekong Delta provinces, then to Ho Chi Minh City for distribution, with quantities ranging from 10 to 30 kg per shipment.

Hai Duyen