Focus on reducing smuggling through Noi Bai airport

	Customs discovered 108.3 kg of smuggled pangolin scales and shark fins
	Collected more than 3 kg of ivory products transporting to Thailand via Noi Bai airport
	Temporarily suspend working of 2 Customs officers of Noi Bai Airport

Ivory and pangolins were seize by the Customs Branch at Noi Bai International Airport on 28/9/2018. Photo: N.Linh

Taking the initiative in giving fighting measures at the end of the year

According to the Customs Branch at Noi Bai international airport, the smuggling and trade fraud, counterfeited goods, illegal transport of goods through borders, especially at Noi Bai international airport, is more complicated with more sophisticated tricks. Violators are taking more risks and showing signs of organization into smuggling lines and groups. Meanwhile, the force in charge of customs control is not powerful enough to cover all areas of management.

Particularly, in the fight against drug offenders, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Customs Department noted that drug offenders abuse our country’s facilitating policies on import and export activities to send drugs together with goods to Vietnam.

Mr. Giang said that drug prevention forces under Hanoi Customs Department have taken the initiative in embracing the situation, especially on key routes via airlines, for abusing goods sent via express to Vietnam through Noi Bai international airport. From the beginning of the year, the unit has developed a specific plan to identify the offenders, flights, and grasped information on routes for regular inspection; taken the initiative in cooperating with competent forces such as Police, and anti-drug force under the Anti-smuggling and Investigation Department (under the General Department of Customs).

At the Noi Bai airport’s Customs Branch, measures for prevention and fighting against smuggling at the end of the year have been introduced to focus on inspecting and controlling imported and exported goods, and for passengers’ luggage on entry and exit. In addition, the unit is to actively cooperate with port operators to disseminate and raise awareness of organizations and individuals; encourage them to join, discover, fight against, and denounce the violation acts; forbidden them to join and support acts of smuggling, trade fraud, trade of banned and fake goods.

Accordingly, the unit developed a specific plan to inspect key goods, flights and subjects, focusing on inspecting and controlling banned goods, such as for drugs, guns, smuggling wildlife and rare wildlife products (rhinoceros horns, ivory, pangolin scales ...). In addition, items which are often smuggled through airports such as alcohol, tobacco, cosmetics, supplementary foods, milk of all kinds, fruits, medical equipment, etc., are also to be inspected thoroughly.

From the identification of key goods, the Customs Branch at Noi Bai International Airport has made plans to focus on key subjects, planned to patrol and control; collected information on goods and passengers to promptly detect acts and subjects of smuggling; coordinated to review flights to and from key areas. The unit’s control team has coordinated with the Operational Teams to focus on exploiting advance passenger information on the National Single Window to analyze and identify passengers with suspicious signs, use sniffer dogs and screening equipment for inspection, as well as strictly controlling goods transported to the ICD.

Many smuggling cases were discovered

By establishing fighting measures, in 2018, the Customs Branch at Noi Bai International Airport has detected and prevented many tax frauds and many cases of illegal drug transport. The unit has made records for 171 violation cases, fined nearly VND 600 billion. Main acts were incorrect declaration of goods name, codes, tax rates and delaying in Customs clearance, import of used telephones through hand luggage. Hanoi Customs Department has detected and arrested 14 smuggling cases and 8 drug cases. Compared with 2017, the number of smuggling cases and illegal transport cases detected by the Hanoi Customs Department increased significantly (up 12 cases), the number of drug arrests also increased by 4 cases.

In particular, there were some noteworthy cases such as: 12 January 2018, Customs Branch at Noi Bai International Airport in collaboration with Economic Security Office - Hanoi Public Security and involved parties inspected 5 bales, weighing 300 kgs. As a result, these bales contained scales (scales of pangolin java manis javanica), with a net weight of 285 kgs.

On 29 September 2018, the Branch coordinated with the Customs Control Team, Division 1 of the Anti-smuggling and Investigation Department, and made a specialized investigation, case No. HN – 003 of Ha Noi Customs Department, to conduct an inspection of 2 consignments, and seized 193 kgs of bracelets, round ivory beads, processed ivory products and so on.

On 8 October 2018, the Branch cooperated with the Northern Smuggling Control Team - the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department, to inspect all three consignments of the three bills of the VAK Company Limited with act of incorrect declaration and failure to declare imported goods. Through the inspection, the exhibits which were discovered were 1,157 iphones of all kinds,

On 12 October 2018, the Customs Branch at Noi Bai Airport coordinated with the Customs Control Team (Hanoi Customs Department) to inspect a consignment transported from South Africa through Doha to Vietnam on 4 October 2018, and then discovered and captured 34kgs of rhinoceros horn.

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Most recently, on November 2, 2018, the Customs Control Team (Hanoi Customs Department) co-ordinated with the Northern Smuggling Control Team (Division 1 of Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department, General Department of Customs) to inspect all 2 consignments from Nigeria to Noi Bai airport. Through inspection, Customs forces discovered the infringing goods including 47 kgs of pangolins and 61.3 kgs of shark fins.