Two death-row prisoners who broke free from a police-run jailhouse in Hanoi on Sunday last week have been captured while on the run in the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Hoa Binh.

The inmates, Le Van Tho and Nguyen Van Tinh, had been reported missing from their cell at the T16 detention center, run by the Ministry of Public Security, since September 10.

Tho was arrested at around 5:00 pm on Saturday near a market in Hai Duong’s Nam Sach District.

Plain-clothes police officers reportedly ambushed a taxi that Tho was in, dragged him out of the vehicle and had the man handcuffed and blindfolded before escorting him away in a black car.

Plain-clothes police officers arrest Le Van Tho near a market in Nam Sach District, Hai Duong Province. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Meanwhile, Tinh was arrested at around 1:15 am on Sunday while trying to seek refuge in a cave in Hoa Binh’s Mai Chau District, the Ministry of Public Security’s senior police chief Tran Van Ve confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper nearly an hour later.

Despite Tinh’s resistance, he was swiftly put under control by experienced officers and escorted to the T16 detention center during the night, Ve said.

Nguyen Van Tinh (green shirt) is arrested near the entrance to Kia Cave in Mai Chau District, Hoa Binh Province. Photo: Facebook/Hong bien Hoa Binh

Tinh, 28, was sentenced to death by the People’s Court of Hanoi in April for his involvement in a narcotics ring.

His previous offense was harboring or consuming property acquired through the commission of crime by others.

Tho, 37, received the death penalty in May when the People’s Court of Ha Nam Province in northern Vietnam found him guilty of dealing in narcotics, murder, and property appropriation.

His past convictions included murder, kidnapping for ransom, illegal use of military firearms, bribery, robbery, and property appropriation.

The two had been held in the same solitary confinement at the T16 detention center in Hanoi’s rural Thanh Oai District while awaiting execution.

Mugshots of Nguyen Van Tinh (L) and Le Van Tho. Photo: Hanoi Police

Initial investigation reports showed that the two prisoners had managed to break their shackles while correctional officers were not paying attention, and dug a hole to tunnel their way out of the cell at midnight last Sunday.

A criminal investigation has also been launched into negligence and dereliction of correctional officers at the jailhouse that had led to the dangerous criminals’ escape.

Le Van Tho during a police interrogation. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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