When discovered illegally mining sand, two "sand bandits" in Binh Giang drove their boat away, using high-pressure hoses to spray water at the police vehicle.
At about 2:20 a.m. on April 19, 2024, the Traffic Police - Order Team of Gia Loc District Police was patrolling and controlling the Kim Son River, in Hung Long village, Yet Kieu commune (Gia Loc) when it discovered a concrete-hulled ship without markings or numbers illegally mining sand on the riverbed.
The ship was piloted by Dao Van Nhat Tung (born in 1985, residing in Zone 5, Ke Sat town, Binh Giang). Le Van Minh (born in 1984, also residing in Zone 5, Ke Sat town) operated the machinery system to pump and suck sand.
When the working group drove the canoe over and signaled the sand suction vessel to stop the violation immediately, the driver stopped the vessel for inspection, but the driver drove the vessel away towards Cam Giang district. After pulling the sand suction hose onto the vessel, Le Van Minh used a high-pressure water hose to spray water down the riverbed, towards the working group's canoe.
Lieutenant Colonel Pham Quy Gia, Captain of the Traffic Police - Order Team of Gia Loc District Police, who directly drove the canoe chasing the subjects, said: During the entire escape route, they used high-pressure water sprays towards the police force's canoe, leading to the risk of losing control, capsizing, and sinking the vehicle. Because the incident happened at night, visibility was limited, and the subjects fiercely resisted, the Working Group drove the canoe to keep a distance from the sand suction ship to ensure safety, while continuing to signal the subjects to stop the ship.
At around 3:10 a.m. the same day, after having fled about 5 km to the river area in Tan Co village, Cam Phuc commune (Cam Giang) but still seeing the working group's canoe chasing them, Tung and Minh abandoned the boat, jumped into the river and swam to shore to escape. Upon inspection, there were more than 22 cubic meters of sand in the boat's hold. When summoned to work with the authorities, the subjects admitted to all their crimes.
Subject Le Van Minh confessed that on the morning of April 19, Tung invited Minh to go dredge sand from the river to sell to people for 500,000 VND/session. The sand dredging was not licensed by the competent authority. After dredging sand for more than an hour, seeing that the sand exploitation site had run out, Minh stopped the sand dredging pipe, but the water spray pipe of the ship was still in normal operation mode. When seeing the police ship appear, Tung told Minh to retract the sand dredging pipe and use a high-pressure spray pipe to spray water down the river towards the working group's canoe to threaten and prevent the police canoe from approaching the ship.
On May 7, 2024, the Investigation Police Agency of Gia Loc District Police issued a decision to prosecute the case and prosecute Dao Van Nhat Tung and Le Van Minh for the crime of resisting people on official duty as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 330 of the Penal Code, and is continuing to investigate and handle the subjects for illegal sand mining.
VU OANH