Bui Dinh Khanh is arrested at 10 pm on April 18.
Drug trafficker suspected of killing police officer arrested after manhunt
Bui Dinh Khanh, a suspected drug trafficker believed to have fired the shots that killed 29-year-old police officer Lieutenant Nguyen Dang Khai during a narcotics raid, was apprehended late on April 18 after nearly a day on the run.
Khanh was captured at around 10 pm in Dong Hai Ward, Thanh Hoa City, by a joint task force involving multiple police units.
He was among five suspects targeted in a drug raid by Quang Ninh police on the night of April 17. Four were arrested at the scene, but Khanh managed to escape.
Authorities tracked his movements overnight as he used various means of transportation to evade capture. He was spotted climbing into a container truck in Kim Thanh District, Hai Duong Province, at around 1 am on April 18. Later that morning, at about 10.30 am, he was seen purchasing clothes at a store in Tam Nong District, Phu Tho Province.
According to neighbours, Khanh had been living with his mother in Gieng Day Ward, Ha Long City, and was generally polite. Over the past year, he had rarely left home. During a search of his residence, police seized a large quantity of narcotics.
In total, authorities confiscated 25 bricks of heroin from the suspects.
Khanh told investigators that he ditched his personal vehicle near a residential home in Dai Yen Ward, Ha Long, before taking a taxi to Hai Duong. There, he hitched a ride in a container truck to Hanoi, then took another taxi to Phu Tho Province. After changing clothes, he returned to Hanoi and boarded a sleeper bus at Nuoc Ngam Bus Station bound for Thanh Hoa.
The Thanh Hoa Provincial Criminal Police Department handed Khanh over to Quang Ninh police for further investigation.
The incident occurred on April 17 when Quang Ninh police caught Nguyen Huu Dang, 58, and Ha Thuong Hai, 31, red-handed trading 16 bricks of heroin near the Dragon Castle apartment complex in Ha Long City at around 8.20 pm.
At the same time, officers surrounded Khanh’s group, which had travelled from Phu Tho to Quang Ninh to complete a drug deal with Dang near the Dai Yen toll station. The suspects resisted arrest and opened fire with AK rifles in an attempt to free their accomplices. Lieutenant Khai and two other officers were injured in the shootout. Khai succumbed to his injuries shortly afterward.
Hoang Van Dong is arrested at 4.30 am on April 18.
By 4.30 am on April 18, two more suspects from Khanh’s group, Ha Quang Son and Hoang Van Dong,were taken into custody.