Organizing drug use in hotel, 5 former players of Hong Linh Ha Tinh Club received sentence

On the afternoon of August 27, the People's Court of Ha Tinh City (Ha Tinh Province) opened the first instance trial of five players who used to be on the payroll of Hong Linh Ha Tinh Football Club, accused of organizing and illegally using drugs.

The jury sentenced former midfielder Dinh Thanh Trung (36 years old) and former goalkeeper Duong Quang Tuan (28 years old) to four years and six months in prison each; former midfielder Nguyen Trung Hoc (26 years old), former central defender Nguyen Ngoc Thang (22 years old) and former midfielder Nguyen Van Truong (21 years old) to four years in prison each.

At the trial, the five former players of Hong Linh Ha Tinh Football Club admitted all their actions, expressed remorse, and asked the jury to reduce their sentences so they could soon return to their families and reintegrate into the community to become useful members of society.

Previously, at 10:30 a.m. on May 4, Ha Tinh City Police inspected room 501 of Binh Minh Hotel (Group 8, Tran Phu Ward, Ha Tinh City) and discovered the 5 players mentioned above and 5 women organizing illegal drug use. Among them was a 17-year-old girl.

At the scene, the police seized nearly 2 grams of Ketamine; 1 gray tablet and broken gray fragments of drugs, MDMA weighing 0.6064 grams. In addition, the police seized 510 ml of liquid containing Methamphetamine, MDMA, Ketamine and Nimetazepam.

Authorities determined that this was a case of complicity, with the defendants agreeing to pool money to buy drugs for use. Dinh Thanh Trung was the mastermind who initiated the provision of locations and directly went to get drugs for others to use.

Duong Quang Tuan, Nguyen Trung Hoc, and Nguyen Ngoc Thang were identified as the people directly involved in purchasing and collecting drugs, preparing tools and objects, stirring drugs for use, and giving them to others to use. In addition, the authorities also determined that the 5 girls involved in the case had committed violations that were not serious enough to warrant criminal prosecution.

It is known that Dinh Thanh Trung is a famous Vietnamese football player, won the Vietnam Golden Ball award in 2017 and played for many years at Quang Nam Football Club, helping the team win the V-League and the National Super Cup in 2017.

After his form declined due to the burden of age, Dinh Thanh Trung moved to Hong Linh Ha Tinh from the 2022 season but is no longer regularly on the field.

Meanwhile, central defender Nguyen Ngoc Thang wore the U23 Vietnam shirt to participate in the 2024 U23 Asian Cup and was always trusted by coach Nguyen Thanh Cong in the defense of Hong Linh Ha Tinh this season.