On 14/8, Nguyen Duc Nam, 41, former lieutenant colonel and chief of the economic and drug crime investigation police of My Duc district, along with former captain Dinh Tien Dat, 36, were tried by the Hanoi People's Court for accepting bribes.

Former captain Bui Xuan Trieu was prosecuted for falsifying case files. Vuong Van Thuan and Nguyen Van Hung, both 48, were prosecuted for bribery.

The indictment stated that at 0:40 on 25/6/2023, Dat, from the Economic and Drug Crime Investigation Police of My Duc District, inspected a local karaoke bar and discovered several individuals exhibiting signs of drug use. Among them was Thuan's younger brother, an acquaintance of Dat.

Dat then called Thuan to inform him. Thuan, in turn, called Hung, his "friend with connections," to go to the karaoke bar and plead their case.

At this time, Nam, Trieu, and several other officers from the unit arrived to direct and assist with the situation. Hung met Nam and asked him to let Thuan's brother go. Coincidentally, Thuan was renovating Nam's house.

Nam then called and went to Thuan's house to confirm whether the person detained at the karaoke bar was indeed Thuan's brother. There, Thuan and Hung continued to plead with Nam not to process his brother, promising a "thank you" gift. Nam agreed and returned to the karaoke bar to continue directing the case.

After bringing all the drug users from the karaoke bar to the My Duc District Police headquarters, Nam assigned Dat and Trieu to work with 4 individuals, including Thuan's brother.

Nam instructed them to "create favorable conditions," which Dat understood to mean not prosecuting them, and relayed this to Trieu, telling him not to create files for these individuals. Therefore, despite the 4 individuals admitting to using drugs, Dat and Trieu did not record their statements or have them write self-confessions.

The two former captains only created personal profiles and inspection reports, having the individuals sign blank drug test slips without any test strips attached, the indictment stated.

Dat then reported to Nam that "this group did not use drugs" and did not file any reports, transfer documents, or submit evidence.

Around 8:00 the same day, Dat called Thuan and asked him to prepare 200 million VND as a "thank you."

Around 12:40, Nam called Thuan to inform him that his brother's case had been handled and he would be "released." At 15:00, Thuan called to ask to meet Nam to give him a "thank you" gift.

Nam said that Dat was handling this matter and Thuan could discuss it with him. Nam then informed Dat about Thuan's intention to give a "thank you" gift and instructed Dat to handle it. Around 17:00, Dat drove to Hung's house and received a black plastic bag containing 300 million VND.

Four days later, Dat reported to Nam that he had received 200 million VND and transferred 100 million VND. Dat claimed to have given Trieu 20 million VND and two other colleagues 70 million VND.

Five months later, when asked by the My Duc District Police leadership to report on the incident, Nam instructed Dat to rectify the records to indicate that the 4 people were released because they did not use drugs.

Following Nam's instructions, around the end of November 2023, Dat had the 4 individuals sign blank statement forms and gave them test strips to self-test, resulting in "negative" results.

Dat and Trieu fabricated statements for the 4 individuals on the pre-signed forms, stating that they did not organize or use drugs at the karaoke bar.

Dat also took 4 negative drug test strips and attached them to 4 test slips. He then asked the head of the Dai Nghia town health station to write "negative" in the results section of the drug test slips and sign and stamp them for official documentation.

After completing these documents, on 11/12/2023, Dat submitted them along with some evidence, including a ceramic plate used by the group to take drugs.

Hanoi Police later tested the white crystals on the ceramic plate and found them positive for drugs. Thuan's brother was subsequently prosecuted for organizing illegal drug use. The other 3 individuals were administratively fined for drug use.

On 26/12/2023, the three former police officers were stripped of their People's Police titles.

During the investigation, except for Hung, the other 4 defendants admitted to their actions.

According to the indictment, the two colleagues who Dat claimed to have "shared 70 million VND with" did not admit to the act, and the investigating agency had no other evidence to charge them, so they were not prosecuted.

The head of the health station, who wrote "negative" on the test slips based on the results of the test strips provided by Dat, signed and confirmed them according to procedures. As there was no evidence of complicity in falsifying the case files, she was also not prosecuted.

During the trial, the Hanoi People's Court adjourned the proceedings to return the case file for further investigation, requesting clarification on several individuals suspected of being accomplices.

Thanh Lam