Bạch Hải Đường

Bạch Hải Đường (1950–1983), whose real name was Nguyễn Ngọc Truyện, was known as the phantom thief in southern Vietnam from 1970 to 1982. He was wanted by both the pre-1975 National Police and the later Public Security Forces.

Bạch Hải Đường was believed to have never killed anyone and that he had only actually used his gun once in a gold robbery, which was also the reason the police started to use lethal force on him. During one of his arrest, he confessed that he used all stolen money for himself. However, since Bạch Hải Đường wasn't known to be a wasteful spender, there were rumours that he donated his money to charity. In 1962, his father was accused of being a bandit and was shot dead on the street by the police. His mother left the town while he was adopted by his uncle. In 1969, Nguyễn Ngọc Triệu married and moved to Cần Thơ for some time to avoid being drafted.

Before 1975 In 1971, Truyện's son fell ill and with no money to buy medicine, he and some of his friends formed a robber band.

Captain Triệu and Bạch Hải Đường

Source: After escaping another prison, he committed a gold robbery, was shot at the leg, and was imprisoned again. In 1980, he broke free again. Three years later, he was shot and arrested again. Due to having many untreated injuries, Bạch Hải Đường died at the age of 33.

Personal life Bạch Hải Đường divorced his first wife in 1972 and married a woman named Nguyễn Thị Lệ. However, Lệ later reported Bạch Hải Đường's crime to the police, causing their relationship to end.

Some described Bạch Hải Đường as "a gallant giang hồ" who "robbed the rich to give to the poor", while others believed he was just "a petty thief" that Captain Triệu couldn't catch and the story about "general of robbers" was created to prevent humiliation.