Dung Hà

Dung Hà was born and raised in Hải Phòng on Trạng Trình street as the youngest daughter of her family. The street on which she lived on was near the edge of the bustling Iron Market (Chợ Sắt), which at the time was one of the busiest sectors in the port city of Hải Phòng, with many businesses lined up selling wares such as shrimp paste and dried fish. The street was also near both the local bus station and the ferry terminal, giving young Dung Hà exposure to the complicacy of society, such as seeing crimes like theft and witnessing gangsters wandering the streets from an early age. Dung herself was said to have been free-spirited and wild in her youth, and from early on she dropped out of school and quickly became a female gangster near the Tam Bạc bus station.[1][2]

Following the footsteps of a number of brothers and sisters, Dung Hà took on the job of pickpocketing and robberies to make a living. In the middle of 1986, while robbing a pedestrian walking on the street in the Iron Market, Dung Hà was caught and arrested, where she then later spent 12 months in prison for the crime. She was 21 years old at the time. This did not change her behavior though, and when she was released from prison, she became increasingly involved in the criminal underworld.[1][2]

Knowing of Hải “Bánh”, a mobster from the north who migrated to the south to joined forces with Năm Cam's and became incredibly wealthy in the process, Dung Hà decided to do the same. Năm Cam had hoped to get Dung Hà to serve as his emissary in expanding his illicit casino business, but Dung Hà had other intentions, trying to forge her own gang in Saigon. Dung Hà started to cause disruptions to Năm Cam's business by ordering her members to disrupt the Monaco dance business of Năm Cam; the two groups then clashed with one another at a casino near the Hang bridge (Cầu Hang) and other casinos belonging to Cam.

On the night of September 9, 2000, Dung Hà continued to cause trouble, this time at the Phi Thuyền dance floor organized by Hải Bánh by holding a fake birthday party and then having her members throw shrimp sauce, human feces and snakes onto the dance floor. Năm Cam was furious in response, calling Dung Hà a thorn in his eye as he then ordered Hải Bánh to go find Dung Hà.[4][1]

On the night of October 1, 2000, two assassins were directed by a phone call from Hải Bánh to go find Dung Hà. When the assassins found the female gang boss playing in front of the karaoke at 17 Bùi Thị Xuân in the first district, one of the assassins went up to Dung Hà, pulled out a 9mm revolver and shot her at point-blank range in the head, killing her. Dung Hà's death however would later lead to the downfall of Hải Bánh and Năm Cam's gang, which was later destroyed by the authorities in a series of persecutions that resulted in Năm Cam and several members involved receiving the death penalty for the murder of Dung Hà. Dung Hà's body was later taken back up to the north where members of the Hải Phòng criminal underworld delivered her funeral service from Trạng Trình street (where Dung once lived) to the Opera House.[4][1]

Many people in Vietnam, especially in Haiphong considered the night that Dung Hà was shot as a “historical night”. Even until now, people in the port city still think that the gang boss's funeral was unique both in terms of the monumental level and the number of participants. Dung Hà's funeral in a way reminded the people of the mafia godfather's funeral in the world. Many monks and teachers were invited to the funeral to pray for Dung Hà, whose coffin was decorated with flowers. Along the road to the funeral at Dung Hà's house, the younger brothers of her gang stood in two columns, all dressed in black uniform. The disciples of Dung Hà and the many mourners who came were dressed in black vests, with white roses on the chest, eyes wearing dark glasses, and were riding in a black car during the funeral procession.[4]

• Biography of Dung Hà – The Final Days of the Female Gangster