Si and Do re-enact at the scene of the crime. (Photo courtesy of Lao Cai Newspaper) These individuals are said to have befriended their victims viasocial media platforms, engaging them in romantic liaisons. After buildingtrust, the culprits invite the victims to their homes, entertain them withsightseeing trips, and subsequently organise their illicit transportationacross the border, leading to their sale.
On July 11, a victim, Ly Thi M., 20, made a report to theInternational Border Control Station in Lao Cai. She claimed to have beendeceived by a group of individuals and subsequently transported to China to besold. M. is a member of the Mong ethnic group, living in Mu Cang Chai districtof Yen Bai province.
Based on the victim's report, the Lao Cai Provincial Border GuardCommand assigned investigators to handle the case.
On July 28, the Lao Cai Border Guards Command summoned theindividuals for questioning.
The suspects are Thao A Do, 35, Sung A Si, 50, and Hoang ThiDuyen, 32, all living in Lao Cai.
In mid-May 2023, the suspects reached an agreement with a Chineseman named Pao to find and transport women to China for sale.
After the agreement was made, Duyen contacted Si to find thevictims. Si agreed and informed Thao A Do that each woman they sold couldyield around 10-20 million VND (421-842 USD), which they would share among themselves.Do agreed to the plan.
Through Facebook, Do got to know M. and began to court her.Do claimed he wanted to marry M. and on July 10, he invited M. to visit hishome in Lao Cai.
Do told M. that his family ran a clothing store in China, but hisreal intention was to deceive her and take her to China for sale. M. agreed togo along with the plan.
Subsequently, Do rode his motorbike to Mu Cang Chai district, YenBai province, to pick up M. and take her to Lao Cai.
Do then contacted his accomplices to arrange travel documents forM.'s journey to China and handed her over to Si and Duyen for the necessaryprocedures to cross the border.
Once all the paperwork was completed, Duyen personally took M. toexit the country through the border gate and handed her over to Pao on theChinese side.
Upon arriving at Pao's lodging in Hekou, China, M. realised thatshe had been deceived and decided to take advantage of a moment of carelessnessfrom Pao to take her travel documents back and escape back to Vietnam throughthe border gate.
M. then reported the incident and exposed the individuals.
Based on M.'s report and the investigation, on July 31, 2023, theBorder Guard Command of Lao Cai province decided to initiate criminalproceedings and conduct further investigations into the case./.
VNA
