Ho Chi Minh City Customs handles many large drug operations

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Ho Chi Minh City Customs seized drugs hidden in cosmetic boxes. Photo: T.H

Deploying many large operations

According to Mr. Huynh Nam, Captain of the Anti-Drug Prevention and Control Team, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, since the beginning of 2022, the drug situation in the area managed by the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department is still complicated, with many potential dangers.

Accordingly, the key routes and activity levels of drug-related criminal lines and organizations are more sophisticated and dangerous. The source of drugs is still mainly from the Golden Triangle through Cambodia, Laos, smuggled through border provinces and then brought to Ho Chi Minh City, then disguised in all kinds of goods and then entrusted through logistics services to export to Taiwan and Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Australia, UAE.

In particular, synthetic drugs like MDMA (ecstasy) imported from European countries via international courier and postal services and cannabis imported from the US and Canada by air are still ongoing and increasingly complex.

Notably, illegal drug exports to Australia are on the rise. In order to avoid the key control of Customs, the subjects used tricks to export goods concealed in transit to other countries (mainly Singapore, which detected eight cases) before arriving in Australia. In order to fight and prevent effectively, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has been implementing the AU322 operation. Operation AU322 initially detected seven cases, seized about 15.3 kg of narcotics and precursors of all kinds illegally exported through Tan Son Nhat international airport.

Only in the month of drug prevention and control action in 2022, implementing the AU322 operation, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department detected and presided over the inspection and seized more than 7.6kg of heroin about to be exported to Australia via Tan Son Nhat international airport.

After that, the Customs office coordinated with the Ho Chi Minh City Police to track down and arrest one person who was the instigator of the illegal export of these drugs.

Besides, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has just finished the EU222 operation, discovered two parcels containing narcotics, and seized about 8,412 kg of MDMA-type synthetic drugs in the form of tablets transported via express delivery.

Prevent from the border

In addition to the above operations, from the beginning of 2022, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has implemented many measures to fight against drugs in the new normal situation after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, operations and plans have been established to fight drug crimes in the area. Specifically, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has developed and implemented a 5-year long-term plan and four short-term plans a year. In particular, in order to expand the investigation and arrest instigators, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has built two operations to coordinate with the Ho Chi Minh City Police to fight drug crimes and many key drug control plans in the city like airports, seaports, express delivery. Recently, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department coordinated with functional forces to arrest a person who illegally imported more than 1.5kg of ecstasy from the Netherlands to Ho Chi Minh City while transporting goods within the Customs area.

Implementing the above plans and operations, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has been proactive and active in collecting information from many sources, constantly updating new situations on methods, tricks, routes, items and coordinating with relevant functional forces to detect and handle many cases of illegal transportation of narcotics through the area.

In the first nine months of 2022, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department detected and presided over 72 cases of illegal transportation of drugs and drug precursors illegally imported and exported through Ho Chi Minh City border gates (up 20% over the same period in 2021), seized more than 170.79kg of drugs and drug precursors of all kinds (up 17% over the same period in 2021). In which, 106.9kg of marijuana was seized; 19.43kg of MDMA; 18kg of heroin; 11.83kg of methamphetamine; 327g of cocaine; 760g of ketamine and 13.43kg of the drug precursor Pseudoephedrine.

The above-mentioned drugs were hidden inside food packages, cosmetic jars, ink cartridges, tin tea boxes, in cat food packages. between the carton partitions, in fruit candies, hairdressing tools, etc. of the import and export gift shipments to deal with the scanners and dogs of Customs.

Leaders of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department also noted the appearance of many new and sophisticated drugs. Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department discovered and seized 720g of new drugs including a powdered synthetic drug compound mixed with Methamphetamine, MDMA, Nimetazepam, packaged (Crispy Fruit-grape juice), weighing 7g/pack.

At the same time, also discovered three cases, seized more than 13,439.4 grams of Pseudoephedrine drug precursors (methamphetamine production) illegally exported to Australia.

In order to effectively carry out the prevention and anti-drug, in addition to implementing drastically, synchronously, with focus, key plans and operations on control and prevention of illegal drug transportation have been established, leaders of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department directed border-gate Customs Sub-Departments to strictly implement the directives of the General Department of Customs according to Official Dispatch No. 2964/TCHQ-DTCBL dated July 20, 2022.

Accordingly, strengthening the control of drugs and drug precursors during and after customs clearance for exported and imported goods, luggage and means of entry and exit; raise the sense of responsibility of officials and civil servants in the fight against drugs, to prevent subjects from taking advantage of the Green channel to carry out acts of illegal transportation of narcotics in the operational area of Hai Quan.

Effectively use equipment and tools to support drug control, such as: Container scanners, drug detectors, sniffer dogs, drug quick reagents, online surveillance cameras especially those experience using cargo scanners.