Illegal taxi drivers seized for beating, robbing foreigner

The detainees are Do Van Duong, 31, of Nam Dinh Province, and Nguyen Anh Trai, 38, of Hai Duong Province. Both men reside in Hanoi. 

The victim is Lee Seang Man, 24, a South Korean who is a student in China.

At 9:45 pm on February 8, police in Thanh Tri District received a report from a local student who saw a foreign man whose face was covered in blood crying for help at a dyke in Yen My Commune, An Ninh Thu Do (Capital Security) newspaper reported.

A police team was sent to the scene and took the victim to the hospital.

After identifying the victim as a South Korean citizen, the police hired an interpreter to help them question the victim. 

According to Lee’s statements, he recently travelled by bus from China to Vietnam for a trip during Tet.

At 9 pm on February 8, Lee got off a bus at the Nuoc Ngam Bus Station in Hanoi. He then walked to the outside of the station and called a taxicab without knowing that it was a “taxi dù,” a taxi that operates without a license and usually overcharges passengers. 

Lee asked that the taxicab driver take him to Hoan Kiem Lake. Before they reached the lake, the driver asked the man to pay him VND500,000 (US$24).

The foreigner refused to pay, arguing that the charge should only be VND100,000. The driver disagreed and made a phone call.

A few minutes later, another illegal taxi came to the scene, and Lee, trying to escape the first cab, got into it without knowing that it had been called by his driver.

That taxi, followed by the initial one, took Lee to a deserted area near the Huu Hong dyke in Yen My Commune, where the two drivers beat his face with mini fire extinguishers.

They then stole a Galaxy S3 mobile phone, a backpack, a wallet containing VND300,000, over 30,000 Yuan, and some personal papers from the victim.

After the assault, Lee ran away from the scene, crying for help, while the two drivers escaped in their cabs.

Based on the victim’s report and some evidence that was collected, police in Thanh Tri District launched an investigation and seized Duong on the evening of February 11.

Based on Duong’s testimony, the police were able to arrest Trai later.

The police recovered all of the stolen items and returned them to Lee on Wednesday afternoon through a representative of the South Korean Embassy in Vietnam.