Bui Dinh Khanh, 31, a key suspect in a major heroin trafficking operation that left one police officer dead, has been arrested in Thanh Hoa Province following a nationwide manhunt.
Bui Dinh Khanh at the time of his arrest. Photo: X.D
The Quang Ninh Provincial Police confirmed on April 18 that Khanh, a native of Ha Long City, had been captured with the assistance of local police forces in Thanh Hoa.
According to sources, Khanh was spotted by officers from Dong Hai Ward while disembarking from a long-distance bus near the Thanh Hoa Television Station.
Sensing something suspicious, officers moved in and quickly detained the man. He was later identified as the subject of a nationwide warrant and was transferred back to Quang Ninh for questioning.
Khanh had been on the run since the night of April 17, when police launched a sweeping operation to dismantle a large-scale heroin trafficking network headed by 58-year-old Nguyen Huu Dang of Hung Thang Ward, Ha Long City.
At approximately 8:20 p.m. on April 17, police officers conducted a raid near the Dragon Castle apartment complex in Ha Long and caught Dang red-handed as he was about to sell 16 bricks of heroin. The operation quickly escalated when officers pursued suspects near the Dai Yen toll station. One suspect, Ha Thuong Hai, 31, from Tan Son District in Phu Tho Province, was apprehended. However, other suspects in the vehicle resisted fiercely, opening fire with AK-47 rifles in a desperate attempt to help their accomplices escape.
During the confrontation, Major Nguyen Dang Khai, an officer in Quang Ninh’s anti-drug division, was shot. He later died from his injuries at the hospital. The shootout shocked the nation and sparked an urgent effort to track down all suspects involved.
While others were arrested on the spot, Khanh managed to flee in a white pickup truck. He drove to an alley across from Quang Ninh Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, parked the vehicle in front of the home of Duong Van V., a 63-year-old resident of Dai Yen Ward, and disappeared into the night.
On the morning of April 18, the Quang Ninh Police officially issued a nationwide arrest warrant for Khanh. That same afternoon, officers searched his residence in Gieng Day Ward, Ha Long City, and uncovered additional bricks of heroin. The total amount of heroin seized from the operation increased to 25 bricks.
After Khanh’s arrest and extradition to Quang Ninh, investigators obtained his initial testimony on April 19. He recounted, calmly and in detail, how he had carried a red backpack filled with heroin for delivery to Dang at the base of Cai Lan slope near Dragon Castle.
During the attempted arrest, Khanh initially escaped. While driving toward Cai Lan Industrial Park, he noticed several people in black clothing, whom he suspected were officers. He exited the vehicle and fired two rounds at them. As they ran, he fired two more rounds before fleeing again.
When his truck stalled, he abandoned it and ran toward a residential area. Claiming to have been in a fight, Khanh called a man named Son to pick him up and help him hide. He then went to a billiards parlor near National Route 18 and asked staff to call him a taxi.
From there, he traveled to National Route 5B in Hai Duong Province, then hitched a ride with a container truck over Thanh Tri Bridge into Hanoi. After briefly stopping to buy new clothes and shoes in Phu Tho Province, he returned to Hanoi by taxi. At Nuoc Ngam Bus Station, he sat at a street corner, drinking water before boarding a long-distance bus to Thanh Hoa. He was arrested at around 10 p.m. on April 18.
When questioned about his motives and state of mind, Khanh responded coldly, “I already knew a death sentence was hanging over my head.” He said he tried to stay calm during his escape by thinking about random, distant memories. As for choosing Thanh Hoa, he said, “I didn’t plan anything. I just kept going.”
This dramatic series of events followed an investigation by Quang Ninh Police that uncovered a major heroin distribution network operating across several provinces. The case has raised alarms nationwide due to the violent resistance encountered and the tragic death of Major Khai.
The investigation is ongoing, and Khanh faces serious charges including drug trafficking, resisting arrest with deadly weapons, and the murder of a police officer.
The Ministry of Public Security has posthumously promoted Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Dang Khai to the rank of Major after he was killed in action while participating in a major drug raid in Quang Ninh Province.
On April 18, General Luong Tam Quang, Minister of Public Security, signed a decision granting the extraordinary promotion to Khai, who was born in 1996 in Phu Cu District, Hung Yen Province.
Major Khai was an officer with the Criminal Investigation Division for Drug-Related Crimes under the Quang Ninh Provincial Police Department.
Vietnamnet.vn
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