The 'trump card' of major battles

Facing dangerous criminals

Early in the morning of the first day of 2023, at the area of marker 106 in Thanh Chan commune of Dien Bien district (Dien Bien province), 3 Thai ethnic people in the Vietnam - Laos cross-border drug ring were secretly infiltrating and carrying a large amount of drugs. The leader was still holding a flintlock gun in his hand. They were indigenous people and very vigilant but did not know that they had entered the ambush of Border Guard scouts...

After the sharp shout of Captain Vu Van Cuong, the crime squad immediately approached to arrest the suspects. The leader with very strong physique struggled and pointed his gun at the arrest team. As quick as lightning, Captain Cuong rushed in to control him. After a while of struggling, the dangerous criminal had to surrender to the bravery of the Border Guard soldier. The operation was a great success, all 3 suspects were arrested. The crime squad seized 7 heroin cakes, 1kg of crystal meth and 1 gun.

Captain Vu Van Cuong - Captain of the Drug and Crime Prevention Team of Pa Thom Border Guard Station, and his teammates arrested a drug user on the Dien Bien border. Photo: NVCC

That was one of many times Captain Cuong faced cold-blooded drug criminals directly on the windy border. He said that in the above project, he was assigned to command the main fishing team and directly worked with his teammates in the rain and ambush for 3 days and nights in the rugged mountainous terrain with deep ravines, deep abysses, steep cliffs and mosquitoes and leeches.

In 2023, Captain Vu Van Cuong was one of 67 typical examples nationwide in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style and was awarded a portrait of Uncle Ho by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the Party Central Office. During his work, he was awarded the Third Class Feat of Arms Medal by the President. Captain Vu Van Cuong is one of 20 nominees for the Outstanding Young Vietnamese Faces Award in 2023.

"To ensure the safety of myself and my teammates, if I had been just a second slower than the target, I probably would not have been able to watch the sunrise every day," said Captain Cuong.

The 3 billion dong negotiation

After graduating from the Border Guard Academy in 2015, the young officer from Thanh Hoa was transferred to the heroic land of Dien Bien, where he has been working ever since. With his innate ability in drug investigation, Captain Cuong has been trusted many times by the Border Guard Command of Dien Dien province and the unit commander where he directly worked, to be assigned the task of being the "trump card" in major cases. His footprints have been imprinted throughout the villages and many border communes of Dien Bien, Muong Cha, Nam Po districts... of Dien Bien province.

He directly discovered, participated in investigating, arresting, and handling 290 cases with 377 drug criminals, along with evidence of more than 600kg of various drugs, hundreds of millions of dong, 5 flintlock guns, and many related objects and documents.

Telling more about one of the dangerous cases and overcoming the temptations of criminals, Captain Cuong said that at the end of 2021, he directly investigated and discovered a drug ring with a large quantity from Laos into Vietnam through the border area of Dien Bien province, to be transported to other provinces for consumption.

The case was established, the Task Force assigned Captain Cuong the task of arresting a suspect in Muong Nhe district, Dien Bien province. After 7 days and nights of eating rice balls, sleeping in the forest in the cold to monitor the movements of the criminal group, in the early morning of the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year 2022, the "net" was successfully caught.

“Fighting against all kinds of crime, especially drug crimes, is a fierce battle in peacetime. My teammates and I are always ready to face difficulties and dangers for the peace and happiness of the people.”

Captain VU VAN CUONG, Pa Thom Border Guard Station

At that time, at the Nam He intersection, in Muong Tung commune of Muong Cha district, a young man was driving a motorbike carrying a sack towards the working group that was lying in wait. Knowing that his whereabouts were exposed, the criminal recklessly drove his motorbike straight into the working group and pulled out a sharp knife to stab and slash wildly in an attempt to escape. With skillful martial arts, Captain Cuong kicked the knife away, then quickly controlled the subject and seized a huge amount of evidence, 72 heroin cakes.

“Expanding the investigation, at 7 o'clock the same day, in Sin Ho district, Lai Chau province, my teammates and I arrested two more ringleaders residing in Dien Bien and Lai Chau provinces, seizing nearly 500 million VND from them. Of which, the subject residing in Lai Chau province had two special arrest warrants for drug cases. When he was arrested, he offered to give someone 3 billion VND if he was released...”, Captain Cuong recounted.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/truyen-lua-khat-vong-cong-hien-bai-7-at-chu-bai-cua-nhung-tran-danh-lon-post1617633.tpo