In late October this year, a young man from Guangxi, tempted by the promise of easy money, was deceived into traveling to Vietnam with friends, only to narrowly avoid being trafficked to Cambodia. Along the way, realizing they had been deceived, they stabbed the driver in order to escape, ultimately leading to their arrest by the Vietnamese authorities.
On November 24th, Ms. Lin, a resident of Guangxi, told Cover News that her 18-year-old brother, Lin Yonghong, had dropped out of vocational school last year and was working at a plastic injection factory in Zhongshan, Guangdong.
On the afternoon of October 25th, Lin Yonghong informed his cousin via WeChat that he had “found a work opportunity that required travel, and was staying near Nanning high-speed rail station for the night.” However, starting the next day, he completely lost contact – no responses on WeChat, and his phone remained switched off, causing great distress to his family.
After checking her brother’s WeChat chat records, Ms. Lin discovered that on the afternoon of October 24th, a person using the alias “Manager Li” had contacted Lin Yonghong, offering a job opportunity to “make easy money,” even arranging high-speed rail tickets for Lin Yonghong and his friend, Li, to travel to Nanning by noon on the 25th. During this time, “Manager Li” repeatedly reminded the two to “turn off their location (on their phones),” booked a hotel near Nanning train station for them, and informed them about their departure the next day.
On the morning of October 26th, Lin Yonghong inquired about the meeting point, and “Manager Li” specified a rendezvous at 2 p.m. at Nanning Xi Ming Night Market (Xi Ming Commercial Square branch), instructing them to respond with the code phrase “Old Li” and once again reminding them to “turn off location.”
At 1:54 p.m. that same day, Lin Yonghong messaged “Manager Li” saying “I’m on the car,” and after recording and sending the video as requested, received a reply saying, “Okay, follow the driver’s directions.”
After Lin Yonghong got on the car, his family couldn’t reach him anymore. Lin Yonghong’s cousin went to the nearby police station to report the case but was told that “all the surveillance near the car boarding location was damaged.”
On November 19th, Ms. Lin went to the Putang Police Station in Xingye County, Guangxi to report the case.
On the same day, Ms. Lin received notification from the police in Lang Son Province, Vietnam, indicating that her brother, along with his friend Li and two others, had been arrested by local authorities for allegedly abducting and stabbing the driver.
The report mentioned that a phone call recording provided by Ms. Lin to the Vietnamese police indicated that the driver appears to have been instructed by someone else to transfer Lin Yonghong and the other three to Cambodia. Upon realizing they had been deceived, they stabbed the driver to escape. The case is still pending trial, with Vietnamese authorities stating that family members will be notified of further court proceedings.
Previously on October 28th, a Vietnamese Chinese-language media outlet reported that around 11 p.m. on October 26th, on National Highway 1A in Lang Son Province, taxi driver Nguyen Van Ding was seriously injured by four Chinese individuals wielding knives. Another passing driver, Hoang Duc Quyet, noticed the incident and took him to the hospital and reported the case. The four individuals were arrested on the 27th.
The Vietnamese authorities stated that the four individuals entered Vietnam illegally through intermediaries in search of work and are suspected to have been trafficked. They stabbed the driver to escape. Driver Nguyen Van Ding is now out of danger at the Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital. Vietnamese authorities are still investigating the case.