Do not shrink from dangerous drug crimes

Unlike what I imagined of a tall, muscular border guard officer with dark skin after many years of climbing mountains and wading through streams, "rain and rain", ambushing drug suspects in the wild and poisonous forests, Captain Vu Van Cuong attracted our special attention with his gentle voice, handsome face, and scholarly appearance...

He and his teammates had just spent two sleepless nights in the border area, tracking the movements of suspects transporting and trading "white death" in a newly established project. On each such mission, the luggage they brought, in addition to weapons and equipment, was only dry food, rice balls, minced meat, instant noodles; drinking water, from the second day onwards, was mainly taken from streams, wild banana cores... Due to the nature of the mission, there were months when the border guards spent more time sleeping in bags and lying in the forest on "crime-fighting" duty on the border than working time at the unit. Yet everyone looked healthy, strong, and full of optimism. Perhaps it was the harsh environment, heavy and dangerous tasks that had tempered them with such extraordinary courage.

- You look like a student but you are so good at fighting drug cases! - I happily said after a friendly handshake with Captain Vu Van Cuong.

- I don't dare to say that I'm good. This is a common achievement of the brothers in the unit, I only contributed a part of my effort to it - Captain Vu Van Cuong humbly replied, his cheerful eyes seemed to speak.

Captain Vu Van Cuong (center) and his teammates restrain and arrest a drug suspect. Photo provided by the character

Our conversation was intimate and open from the very beginning. The young border guard officer said that he was born into a farming family in Dinh Thanh commune, Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province. The stories of his time as a civilian laborer on the front line, transporting rice to serve the Dien Bien Phu Campaign told by his grandparents were the material that nurtured Cuong's soul since childhood. From then on, the dream of becoming a soldier grew bigger and bigger and was the motivation for the student of Vu Van Cuong district school to study hard and pass the entrance exam with high scores to the Border Guard Academy in 2011.

After graduating in 2015, Lieutenant Vu Van Cuong was assigned to the Border Guard of Dien Bien province, and held many positions: Captain of the Drug and Crime Prevention Team (PCMT-TP), Si Pha Phin Border Guard Station; Investigation Officer, PCMT-TP Task Force, PCMT-TP Department, Dien Bien Provincial Border Guard; Captain of the PCMT-TP Team, Pa Thom Border Guard Station, Dien Bien Provincial Border Guard; Deputy Chief of Operations, Si Pha Phin Border Guard Station.

Trusted by his superiors to investigate and fight against drug crimes, Vu Van Cuong always had in mind how to quickly approach the job, quickly master the profession, and promptly work with his teammates to prevent and arrest traffickers and spread "white death", contributing to protecting the peaceful life of the people. From then on, he took advantage of every moment and every place to proactively self-study, self-research, improve his expertise, actively learn from the experiences of his predecessors, especially to train himself to have an exemplary and careful working style.

Do not shrink from dangerous drug crimes The subject illegally storing drugs was arrested by the Border Guard of Dien Bien province. Photo provided by the character

From October 2022 to present, with the experience gained and accumulated during his work, Captain Vu Van Cuong has proactively advised the Party Committee and unit commanders to deploy many measures to combat drug crimes, suitable to the local reality, bringing about clear results. In 2022 alone, he directly investigated, detected, participated in arresting and handling 17 special projects and cases with 25 subjects, including 6 special projects, 8 provincial-level cases, and 3 district-level cases. Typical examples are projects DB1221P.2, DB122B, DB622, A222, seizing more than 264,600 synthetic drug pills, 190 heroin cakes, more than 390 grams of heroin, 6 kg of opium... With a proactive offensive spirit and sharp, sensitive expertise, Captain Vu Van Cuong directly participated in many major drug cases, contributing to the establishment, fight, and successful destruction of many criminal rings, transnational drug transportation and trafficking.

He still remembers the time he fought against the DB1221P.2 project, the peak period of crime suppression before, during and after the Lunar New Year 2022. Accordingly, through the work of grasping the situation, at the end of 2021, Mr. Cuong discovered a drug trafficking and transportation ring in large quantities from the northern provinces of Laos through Dien Bien province, to Lai Chau for consumption. After 7 days and nights of ambush at the intersection of Nam He village, Muong Tung commune (Muong Cha, Dien Bien), at 4:45 a.m. on February 3, 2022 (the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year), Mr. Cuong and his teammates caught Chang A Ma, born in 1992, residing in Chung Chai commune (Muong Nhe, Dien Bien) using a motorbike to transport 72 heroin cakes hidden in a cardboard box tied to a cargo rack.

Do not shrink from dangerous drug crimes Captain Vu Van Cuong with local people. Photo provided by the character

Through hundreds of drug cases, each time he went to "fight a case", Captain Vu Van Cuong had many special emotions. For example, when participating in the fight against the DB223 case, he was assigned to command the main capture team and directly worked with his teammates to ambush and arrest 3 subjects illegally transporting drugs across the border from Laos to Vietnam.

- To deploy the project, my teammates and I lay in wait for many days in the rugged mountainous terrain, in the cold rain, with countless mosquitoes and leeches, but we encouraged each other to try our best and not leave our positions. At dawn on February 25, 2023, at landmark 106 in Thanh Chan commune, Dien Bien district, Dien Bien province, we saw 3 suspected drug traffickers entering the ambush formation, we quickly approached. Immediately, the leading suspect recklessly fought back, raising a flintlock gun and aiming straight at me and my teammates. In a moment, I kicked the gun out of his hand before he could pull the trigger, and at the same time knocked him down. The remaining two pulled out sharp knives and stabbed frantically in an attempt to escape but were subdued. Upon inspection, these 3 suspects were carrying 7 heroin bars and 1kg of synthetic drugs. At that time, if I had been just a split second slower, I probably wouldn't be here to talk to you anymore - Captain Vu Van Cuong smiled gently after telling the impressive story.

Recently, at around 7:15 p.m. on April 5, right after receiving the title of Outstanding Young Vietnamese Face of 2023, returning to the unit, at De Bua village, Phin Ho commune, Nam Po district, Dien Bien province, the PCMT-TP force of Si Pha Phin Border Guard Station led by Captain Vu Van Cuong, together with the PCMT-TP Department, Dien Bien Provincial Border Guard, coordinated with Nam Ke Border Guard Station to arrest Thao A Gia, residing in Tram Pung village, Quang Lam commune, Muong Nhe district, Dien Bien province, while transporting 120,000 synthetic drug pills. Expanding the investigation and pursuit, at 8:00 p.m. on the same day, the functional forces arrested the related subject, Lieu A Sua, while he was hiding in the Vietnam-Laos border area.

To effectively combat drug crimes, Captain Vu Van Cuong shared that he and his teammates always actively build bases, grasp the area, proactively research files and legal documents on PCMT-TP work on the border. He also performs well in basic professional work, criminal investigation in assigned areas; collects information, investigates, verifies, fights against drug trafficking rings and gangs and fights against other types of crimes in border areas and border corridors... According to Captain Vu Van Cuong, the most important thing is to regularly improve professional expertise, practice skills in capturing and controlling drug trafficking suspects. Because the subjects are all extremely reckless, daring, ready to use "hot" weapons to fight back against the authorities in order to escape; Without courage, sharp handling skills, and close coordination, it will endanger the lives of yourself and your teammates, and you will not be able to arrest the suspect, affecting the projects and cases under investigation...

Colonel Nham Van Manh, Political Commissar of the Border Guard of Dien Bien province, affirmed: "Captain Vu Van Cuong is a young, enthusiastic officer, proficient in his profession, energetic in all aspects of work, achieving many outstanding achievements in the investigation and fight against many complicated drug cases, contributing significantly to preventing criminal activities and drug abuse in Dien Bien province."

Talking with officers and soldiers of Si Pha Phin Border Guard Station, I also heard many compliments about Captain Vu Van Cuong as an exemplary, modest, friendly, and sociable officer. In particular, on the front of fighting against PCMT-TP, Mr. Cuong is as firm and serious as he is gentle, thoughtful, and devoted when implementing "3 stick, 4 together" (stick to the unit, stick to the area, stick to policies and guidelines; eat, live, work, and speak the local language) with the people. Understanding that the lives of the people in the area are still difficult, in his spare time, he often studies and learns more about agriculture to advise and help people choose crops and livestock suitable to the local climate and soil conditions. Thanks to Mr. Cuong's advice, support, and help, many households have escaped poverty and have stable livelihoods.

BOX: With his outstanding achievements in work, Captain Vu Van Cuong was awarded many noble prizes. In 2022, he was awarded the Third Class Military Exploit Medal by the President. In 2023, he was one of 67 typical examples nationwide in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style, and was awarded the Uncle Ho Badge; one of 10 Outstanding Young Faces of the Border Guard, Outstanding Young Face of the entire army and Outstanding Young Face of Vietnam in 2023.

Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/cuoc-thi-nhung-tam-guong-binh-di-ma-cao-quy-lan-thu-15/khong-chun-buoc-truoc-toi-pham-ma-tuy-nguy-hiem-787556