A court in southern Long An Province handed down the sentence to Tran Van Men, 42, on Wednesday for “illegal transportation of narcotics.”
Men, a freelancer and divorced father of two boys aged 13 and 15, broke down in tears upon seeing his children waiting outside the courtroom.
According to the indictment, Men began smuggling drugs in early July after visiting the Tram Do casino in Prey Veng Province, Cambodia, located just 300 meters from his home in Long An. There, he met a Cambodian man, aged 40-50, who offered him tens of millions of dong to transport goods to Vietnam.
Men agreed and received VND8 million (US$400) to buy a motorcycle and a Cambodian SIM card for easier communication.
A week later, following instructions from the man, Men swam across the Cai Co River—the natural border between Vietnam and Cambodia—at 2 a.m. to retrieve a package from behind the casino.
Upon returning home, he discovered the black nylon bag contained five packages, each weighing one kilogram of drugs. He stored them in a metal cabinet in his bedroom before delivering them later that day to a woman in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 12.
The next day, Men discarded his phone in a sewer afterward and returned to Cambodia where he was paid VND40 million and sold the motorcycle.
In September, the Cambodian man called again, offering VND7 million per kilogram to transport a larger shipment. Using the same method, Men retrieved two backpacks filled with drugs and stored them at his house. The next morning, border guards detained him while he was having breakfast near his home. A search of his house uncovered nearly 15 kilograms of ketamine and 10 kilograms of methamphetamine.
In court, Men claimed financial struggles drove him to accept the job, insisting the Cambodian man told him the packages contained “phone components and wristwatches.”
He denied knowing they were drugs, saying, “If I had known, I would never have brought them home.”
However, investigators presented evidence, including his earlier statements and photos from the raid, where Men admitted knowing the packages contained drugs.
The prosecutors argued that Men’s confession during the investigation was voluntary and credible, stating that the seized drugs would have caused immense harm to families and society. They requested the death penalty.
In his final plea, Men expressed remorse and asked for leniency. However, the court ruled his actions were extremely severe, citing the large quantities of drugs involved and repeated offenses. It determined that his awareness of the nature of the operation—receiving payments, purchasing equipment, and discarding phones—showed he knew he was trafficking drugs.
The court sentenced Men to death and ordered him to forfeit nearly VND50 million earned from his crimes.
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