Anti-smuggling in the border area of Dong Thap province

A case of smuggling cigarette seized by Thuong Phuoc Customs Branch - Dong Thap Customs Department has been prosecuted.

Transport of smuggled cigarettes is very sneaky

On November 16, the Customs professional team of So Thuong Border Gate, under the Thuong Phuoc Customs Branch, worked with competent forces to timely stop two cases of smuggled goods. In particular, the team collaborated with the police of Thuong Thoi Hau A commune to patrol the road in the Binh Hoa Thuong hamlet (Thuong Thoi Hau A commune, Hong Ngu district). Then, the force seized 900 packs of foreign cigarettes. This shipment was left behind by one man driving a motorcycle after he realised he was caught.

Next, the So Thuong border gate Customs team coordinated with the Thuong Lac Commune Police to seize 500 kg of crystallized sugar produced by Thailand. This was left next to the school which is being repaired near the wharf of Phan Giang - belonging to the Binh Hoa Ha hamlet, of the Thuong Lac commune.

On the same day, the Customs professional team of the So Thuong border gate also coordinated with the Thuong Thoi Hau A Commune Police to arrest two cases of smuggled goods, including 589 kg of crystalline sugar and 1,300 packs of foreign cigarettes. In the area of the ​​So Thuong riverbank in Binh Hoa Trung hamlet (Thuong Thoi Hau A commune, Hong Ngu district), the team seized 589 kg of crystal sugar and 1,000 packages of NELSON branded cigarettes. These were gathered in the area close to the border river of So Thuong. It was known that those goods were covered by a piece of blue-and-white striped plastic, without a watchman.

Through verification, the Customs Authority determined that the above goods belonged to smugglers in the area, who had secretly transported goods across the border from Cambodia. They then hide and wait for a favorable opportunity to move deeper into the country.

Recently, over two days (November 26 and 27, 2021), the Cao Lanh City Police force discovered 3 subjects, including: Nguyen Van Dao (was born in 1988, living in Hung Dien commune, Tan Hung district, Long An province), Truong Tan Chau (was born in 1959 and lives in Hung Loi ward, Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho city), and Phan Van Tu (who was born in 2002, living in An Loc ward, Hong Ngu city, Dong Thap province) when they were transporting 2,539 packs of smuggled foreign cigarettes.

Signs of the outbreak on the horizon

According to the Dong Thap Customs Department, smuggling and the illegal transportation of goods across the border, from the beginning of 2021 until now, has decreased sharply compared to 2020. The reason for this is that the competent forces continue to strengthen strict control of people, vehicles and goods crossing the border. Smuggling almost stopped during social distancing (from July 14, 2021 to September 15, 2021). Recently, smuggling and illegal transport of goods across the border activities has increased again, around the time when the locality changed to the “new normal” situation. Smuggled goods are still mainly foreign cigarettes, crystallized sugar and medicines.

This is because the price of goods between Cambodia and Vietnam is still quite high, especially for foreign cigarettes. So smugglers always find ways to transport goods into the country for consumption. Prominent in recent times is the situation of transporting smuggled cigarettes from Cambodia to Vietnam, then gathering and dividing them into small packages and into to the domestic market for consumption.

Since the beginning of the year, the Dong Thap Customs Department has detected dozens of cases of transporting and storing smuggled cigarettes. Furthermore, they have transferred two cases to police to prosecute, due to illegally transporting 5,000 packs of smuggled cigarettes. Recently, the Dong Thap Customs Department has coordinated to destroy 61,742 packs of smuggled foreign cigarettes seized by affiliated units.

Director of the Dong Thap Customs Department, Nguyen Thanh Toan, said “the Covid-19 pandemic still occurred in the area. Thus, to ensure the safety of customs officers in tasks related to anti-smuggling at the end of the year, the unit's leaders directed all customs officers to strictly implement pandemic prevention measures when performing professional stages of controlling and inspecting import and export goods... Luckily, in this 4th outbreak of the pandemic, no customs officers were infected with SARS - CoV2 virus, they should then feel secure to perform duties at hot spots of smuggling, especially at the end of the year.”