Laotian drug tycoon Xieng Phenh has been familiar with Vietnamese policemen for a long time.

The 53-year-old man had been sentenced to death by a Vietnamese court in 1995 but was commuted to only 15 years in prison for ‘precious statements’ minutes before his execution, which was planned the following year.

While being taken to the execution grounds, he fainted, wet his pants, mumbled and begged for time to name his accomplice. It was his statement that helped Vietnamese police smash a major drug ring and execute five senior drugs prevention officers that were a part of the illicit operation.

With the commutation of his sentence, Xieng Phenh spent only 15 years in prison thanks to being given amnesty five times, and was released in 2010.

Yet he continued his involvement in the illegal trading business and was collared again several days ago after being caught red handed with 39 cakes of drugs, equivalent to 13kg, in a hotel in Laos.

A year-long chase

The border guard force of the central province of Ha Tinh, in coordination with a Laos security unit, nabbed Phenh on April 8 while he was staying in a hotel in Pac Ca Dinh District in Laos.

Colonel Nguyen Trong Thuong, chief of the Ha Tinh border guard department, said his forces agreed to work with Laotian counterparts to set up a special task force to investigate the case of Xieng Phenh last April. This was the time when marijuana plants were often grown in Laotian farms.

Initial investigation showed that the marijuana plants were harvested, dried and pressed into cakes and then hid in the jungle. On average, each pack of 1,500kg of dried marijuana was swapped for a luxury car.

From secret information, leaders of the task force sent two disguised groups of servicemen to Bolykhamxay Province in Laos, one led by the Vietnamese forces and the other by the Laotian, to search for three pick-up cars based on their identification features.

The task force chased and stopped the last car. Two men left the car and hid in the forest along the road. The car was carrying 1,000kg of dried marijuana. One of them was caught an hour later. He said his name was Vu A Xay, 26.

From his statements the task force concluded that Phenh was in one of the two other cars and set up a plan to catch him.

After receiving info from a reconnaissance team that the men in the two cars may stop at one of three hotels at the Thang Beng T-junction in Vient Kham Village in Pac Ca Dinh, secret agents were arranged to check in there in advance.

At noon that day, one of the two cars stopped in front of Vieng Thon Hotel and the other car went around the street as if to stand watch. 20 minutes later, a man from the car entered the hotel with a white bag to check into Room 7.

The task force was ordered into action. After hearing knocks on the door, two men in Room 7 stepped out and were immediately hurled to the ground. Xieng Phenh was also handcuffed without resisting.

Upon searching the room, the task force found 39 heroin cakes, or 13kg, and US$250,000 in cash.

After release from prison in Vietnam, Xieng Phenh began setting up links to continue drug trafficking and even mobilized all members of his family to become involved in the illegal business.

39 drug cakes seized in Vieng Thon Hotel in Laos on April 8

Statements 17 years ago

Phenh, a native of Xop Nao Village in Muong Noc District of Phong Sa Li Province in Laos, generated shocking news in Hanoi in 1995 when Vietnamese policemen caught him while transporting 90 cakes of heroin, or 30kg. It was a huge amount then, when traffickers were usually caught with just a few drugs cakes each.

He was nabbed while driving a car with his brother-in-law, Xieng Nhong, at the Giang Vo – De La Thanh Crossroad in Hanoi.

At the two courts in Hanoi, Phenh insisted that he worked alone and that Nhong was just his hired driver. Phenh was given the death sentence while Nhong was released seven months after his arrest.

Whilein prison, Phenh was confident that his Vietnamese accomplices Vu Xuan Truong, Bui Danh Ca and Vu Phong Ma, who were then senior drugs prevention police officials, would be able to bail him out. Phenh couldn’t imagine that Truong, a captain of special mission No.5, actually wanted to eliminate the drug lord and had informed the police of his whereabouts, allowing them to catch Phenh.

Truong and other police accomplices took turns visiting Phenh to both threaten him not to rat them out and reassure him that he would be freed soon.

Phenh had lived with confidence till the turning point -- at 3:00am on June 21, 1996 when he was taken out of his cell to have his fingerprints taken and to go through some legal procedures.

He guessed he was about to be freed until an interpreter told him he was making final procedures for execution. He fainted then, wet his pants and begged for time to name his accomplices.

Seven death sentences for Truong, Ca, Ma and others were given thanks to the statements of Phenh.

Now in prison again, Phenh is expected to give honest statements to Lao police.