Khánh Trắng

With Dat’s knife in hand, Khanh ordered his men to carry Dat onto the pedicab to bring him to the police station in Dong Xuan and bring Duong to the hospital as well. However, when they arrived at the police station, Dat was dead. That night, Khanh summoned the young men who were involved in the fight to his mother’s home on Ton Duc Thang street, where he threatened them to pin the blame on Vu Quoc Dung as the one who robbed Dat’s knife and killed him. Vu Quoc Dung confessed the murder, and the police dropped the case for several years until Khanh’s arrest in 1996.

On 24 May 1996, Khanh Trang and several members of his organization were arrested at Khanh’s house on Nguyen Thiep street in Hanoi. In trial, Khanh was charged with murder, robbery, tax evasion and concealment of crime. According to the law, Khanh had to be sentenced to death for the crimes and was ordered to pay the State nearly 3.9 billion VND, which included a 3.5 billion fine, 350 million of taxes, court fees and compensation for the victims. With all the evidence against him presented, Khanh accepted the death sentence. On 13 October 1998, Duong Van Khanh was executed by the firing squad at Cau Nga shooting range in Hanoi, putting an end to his reign.

In 1994, there was a great fire in Dong Xuan market, which significantly reduced the activity of the businesses in the area. As a result, Khanh began to encroach to the areas around the bus station and Long Bien market, which was under the control of Hung Cuba. Khanh attempted to negotiate with Hung Cuba for control over these areas, but the two didn't come to an agreement. In response, Khanh had his men block all of the routes to the bus station and Long Bien market. Unable to transport or receive any of his goods from shippers, Hung Cuba was forced to submit to Khanh’s will.

From 1994 to May 1996, Khanh reported to the Tax Department that the revenue from his earnings was over 740 million VND, thus he ended up paying only the total turnover tax and income tax for 3 years of over 62 million VND. Meanwhile, during the search of Khanh’s house after his arrest, public security agencies obtained documents which proved that his revenue in 8 days was nearly 110 million. In other words, his revenue was nearly 14 million VND per day.

Three months later, the People's Committee of Hoan Kiem district gave Khanh permission to handle the loading and unloading services in the market. By 1992, Dong Xuan union and the Labor Union were established as the first non-state trade organization in Hanoi. Khanh was later elected as the chairman of the Worker’s Union. When Khanh officially became the chairman of Dong Xuan Worker’s Union (with about 500 people), small-time traders within Dong Xuan market and traders from other markets often saw Khanh riding a jeep with several bodyguards.

Later, according to the calculation of Hanoi Tax Department, from 1992 to May 1996, Khanh's total revenue was over 5.5 billion. Khanh had deceived the tax department by not reporting his turnovers by more than 4.8 billion VND, evading taxes of more than 350 million VND in total.

In early 1991, the People's Committee of Dong Xuan promulgated the policies for the loading and unloading of goods in Dong Xuan market. Thus, Khanh went asked for permission to form a team of self-loading and unloading services in the area. The People's Committee agreed and set up a team, appointing Khanh as their leader, with deputies Nguyen Van Son and Nguyen Van Tuan becoming Khanh's right-hand men.

One of the most publicized cases of Khanh’s murders was the murder of Dat at 44th street (in Hang Chieu, Hanoi). At that time, Dat was a trader at Dong Xuan market area who sold hats for a living. He soon came into conflict with Tran Dai Duong, a member of the Worker's Union who was appointed as a captain of the organization by Khanh. In the afternoon of 24 March 1991, Dat stabbed Duong with a knife but didn't seriously wound him, after which Dat fled from the market. Duong chased after Dat but was stopped by Nguyen Van Hung - Dat’s brother - and other traders in the area. Duong later stayed up to inform Khanh about the incident.

Khánh Trắng (literally translated as "White Khanh") was the President of Dong Xuan Labor Union. However, it was just a screen for his mafia-like organization in the underworld of Hanoi during the late 1990s. Described as a cold-blooded assassin with an elegant appearance, Khanh Trang was the president of the Labor Union during his heyday, in which he ruled the trading in Dong Xuan market area (Hanoi). He also used his influence to fuel his other crimes, such as extortion from the traders and businesses in the market, murder and tax evasion. His nickname (White Khanh) simply derived from his fair complexion.

Between quitting his job to 1989, Khanh committed several offenses and was released from prison after serving 5 convictions. In 1989, Khanh purchased many pedicabs, which he used to transport goods around Long Bien bridge to pay daily rent. From there, Khanh began to form a gang of about three dozen juniors, all of whom were criminals, to transport goods in order to make a living. Around the same time in the area of Dong Xuan market and the surrounding areas, several other gangs began to drive pedicabs to transport goods as well. When Khanh's gang grew stronger, Khanh quickly occupied the areas of Tran Nhat Duat and Hang Chieu in order to expand the influence of his gang. This was considered a risky and clever move of Khanh.

Khanh Trang was born as Duong Van Khanh in 1956 to a long family of 11 siblings, where he was the youngest child. His father had 3 different wives, while his mother also had 3 different husbands, so he and his siblings were a part of 3 separate families. His brother and father were well-educated and earn an honest living. It is said that when his father was still alive, Khanh was never acknowledged as a member of the Duong family. From a young age, Khanh lived with his mother and his half-sister on Kim Ma street (Ba Dinh district, Hanoi). The Duong family was poor though, and they relied mainly on state subsidies to survive. Khanh had four brothers who shared the same mother with him. Three of them had been arrested several times for theft and assault. Khanh studied through the fifth grade before he eventually dropped out of school. Later, he worked at Sao Vang rubber factory for 8 months.