Fugitive Drug Trafficker Arrested After Nearly Eight Years on the Run

Authorities in Lai Chau Province have apprehended Sùng Thị So, a 50-year-old individual with a history of drug trafficking who had been evading justice. So was specifically sought for illegal drug trade and had employed a sophisticated method to avoid serving her sentence. Records indicate So had four prior convictions for drug offenses between 2015 and 2017, accumulating nearly 20 years of imprisonment. She exploited legal provisions for pregnant women and mothers with young children, consecutively giving birth to her seven children to repeatedly delay her sentence. In June 2018, while on bail for her youngest child, So was caught facilitating a heroin purchase for others and was charged again. Facing a lengthy prison term, she fled to China with her child. A warrant for her arrest was issued in September 2018. For nearly eight years, So lived near the Xín Mần border gate in Tuyên Quang Province before her capture on June 10, 2026, by a joint operation involving Lai Chau Provincial Police and local border guards.