Drug traps surround young people

Sitting in front of us in the Provincial Police Detention Center was BTD (born in 2006, Tay ethnic group) with a gaunt, haggard face. When asked about his “journey” to drugs, he bowed his head, his face filled with sadness.

A year ago, D. left her poor, remote countryside in Yen Bai province, carrying her dream of changing her life to the bustling urban area of Pho Yen city. But amid the bustling life, D. was drawn into lavish parties, slipping into the euphoria of drugs. The 19-year-old girl worked at a spa during the day, and at night, dressed in gorgeous dresses, working as a waitress at a karaoke bar.

Wages of 120,000 VND per hour, "top-notch" fun with drugs - all seemed free, but the price D. had to pay was his entire future. On August 12, 2024, while still hallucinating after a drug party for the birthday of the manager of the karaoke bar where he worked, D. and his group of friends were discovered and arrested by the police.

Like BTD, LTH (born in 2007, in Trang Xa commune, Vo Nhai district) also had a poor starting point. Her parents divorced, H. dropped out of school in the 8th grade to earn a living. But instead of working honestly, H. chose a karaoke bar as a place to live. Being fed and housed for free, and being paid 130,000 VND per hour serving customers, H. soon got used to making easy money and having fun with all-night parties.

When the guests tried drugs, H. did not hesitate to agree. One, two, and many times became a habit, the young girl fell into a spiral with no way out, and then in December 2024, while serving a group of guests at the karaoke bar, H. and the guests used synthetic drugs, snorted Ketamine and were discovered and arrested by the police.

Not lured by bad people, nor enticed by friends, BTHT fell into drugs from her own... biological mother. On April 18, 2024, Pham Thi Thanh Thuy (residing in Song Cau town, Dong Hy district) bought synthetic drugs to hide and sell and use. A week later, she invited her daughter BTHT and her daughter's friends to use them together.

Similarly, on March 20, 2025, in Bac Son Ward (Pho Yen City), the working group of the Drug Crime Prevention Police Department (Provincial Police) caught a group of people red-handed organizing drug use. The story became even more heartbreaking when the organizer of this "flight" was Le Doan Nam (born in 1976) and the group of users included his son - LHL (born in 1999).

Drugs not only destroy the body and soul, but also rob the future, pushing young people into darkness. Once they have crossed that fragile line, they are no longer in control of their lives. Many of them have become drug dealers to maintain their addiction without realizing it. And so, the tragedies continue, lives are left to the mercy of drugs.

Nguyen Xuan Bac, born in 2004 (residing in Dong Tien ward, Pho Yen city) is a typical example: From a young man who was a playboy, Bac used synthetic drugs, then became dependent and then to have money to use drugs, Bac became a criminal who sold drugs.

With the mentality of “where there is demand, there is supply”, to meet the needs of “players”, many people, including many young people, have embarked on the path of drug trafficking with the dream of getting rich quickly. In the 4.0 era, there are no longer flashy transactions in dark alleys or hidden corners as in the past, now drugs are sold through social networking platforms such as Facebook, Zalo, Telegram, Instagram.

Every process from price negotiation, delivery to payment takes place neatly with just a few operations on the phone, shortening transaction time, avoiding direct contact, and minimizing the risk of being detected by authorities.

The case that occurred on May 6, 2024 is an example. Nong Quoc V. (born in 2006, residing in Trang Xa commune, Vo Nhai district) used a Facebook account to purchase a total of 990ml of synthetic drug solution MDMB-4en-PINACA. The goods were transported by passenger bus and express delivery service, and payment was made via bank transfer to avoid control by authorities.

After obtaining the drugs, V. continued to distribute them to Nguyen Ngoc An (born in 2004, Lien Minh commune, Vo Nhai district) and Le Thanh Tung (born in 2003, in Pho Yen city). The subjects then decanted them into small bottles for retail sale to users.

In this case, An was not only a buyer but also a reseller of drugs online. The subject used many social media accounts, one for posting advertisements, one for chatting with customers, and one for closing orders and making payments using his own account to hide his actions from the authorities.

Accompanying An was Dang Van Q. (born in 2006, residing in Phuong Giao commune, Vo Nhai district). Both of them had bought synthetic drugs in the form of essential oils from Nong Quoc V. many times, then divided them into 5ml bottles to sell to students in the area. The group of customers that the subjects "targeted" were all young people who liked to gather, have fun, and were easily attracted by curiosity and stimulating invitations such as "no high, no money", "chill to the ground", or "test the goods and they will be gone in one breath".

Not only the subjects in the above case, taking advantage of the strong development of social networks today, drug criminals consider this as a channel to buy and sell "gold" and have taken full advantage of it.

The worrying reality today is that social networks are being turned into powerful tools for drug criminals. On social networks, from secret to public, the subjects run groups with thousands of members. This public advertising is like a virus that silently spreads, becoming one of the reasons why many young people, out of curiosity and love of discovery , have lost their way following the lead of drugs. And sometimes just one unconscious click of the mouse out of curiosity to buy, the life of a young person can fall into a dark spiral with no way out called "hell" from drugs.

In front of us was Tran Ngoc Thach, a 47-year-old man (from Dong Tien Ward, Pho Yen City) who has spent more than half of his life "befriending" drugs and prison bars. In the large area of the provincial compulsory drug rehabilitation center, the skinny man stood silently, his eyes sunken, his cheekbones gaunt, his face dark and sallow, looking like an old man over 60 years old.

“People say I lived half my life in white smoke and the four walls of a prison. That’s right, miss.” Thach started our conversation with us in a hoarse, disjointed voice. He slowly recounted each milestone that led him to drugs like indelible scars. In 2010, Thach was hanging out, and his friends invited him to try Heroin once, but after that first time, he fell into a spiral of hallucinatory intoxication.

From using Heroin, then for convenience and to increase the “high”, Thach gradually switched to using crystal meth. To have money to buy drugs, Thach started to “fall” into trafficking and storing illegal substances. A year later, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years in prison. But after being released from prison at the end of 2021, Thach could not control himself. Just a few months later, he returned to prison for gambling.

At this point, the man's thin body trembled again: "I knew I was dying from drugs, but I still jumped into it. It was like a circle, the more I struggled, the tighter it got." Not long after being released from prison, with the nature of an "addict", Thach still "returned to his old ways", jumping into the path of addiction until he was forced to go to a rehabilitation center.

After the conversation, the man weighing nearly 40kg, with gray hair, dry hands, and eyes that had traded his youth and life for fleeting highs, suddenly looked into the distance and sighed softly.

Thach’s story is not rare, but it never gets old. Every addict is a living warning. Because drugs not only destroy a person, but also destroy homes and destroy the future and career of everyone.

The case of D.MH (in Tan Huong ward, Pho Yen city) is a typical example. H. had a bright future as a party member working at a local school. With the title of teacher, H. was once respected by society, an example for students to follow. However, just because of playing around and letting himself go, H. "burned" his own future because of drugs.

In June 2024, H. and a group of friends went to a karaoke establishment in Dong Cao Ward (Pho Yen City) to sing karaoke. To increase the excitement of the party, H. gave money to the staff to buy Ketamine and ecstasy to use together. The incident was later discovered and handled by the investigation agency. Not only did H. lose his job, he was also sentenced to 7 years in prison for the crime of "Organizing illegal use of drugs".

Drug cases involving teenagers show that the distorted perception and loose lifestyle, turning to drugs to live in a feeling of excitement, experiencing the psychedelic world of today's youth are at an alarming level.

Returning to the above-mentioned case of buying and selling essential oil drugs, the investigation process of the authorities showed that An, V., and Q. were all “players” who used synthetic drugs in the form of pod chill (electronic cigarettes laced with drugs), so they were introduced by friends to groups playing candy and synthetic drugs on social networks. From here, the subjects came up with the idea of buying and selling synthetic drugs to use and sell to young men and women to earn money for entertainment...