Kien Giang Customs: Enhancing the fight against smuggling during the Covid-19 epidemic

	Kien Giang handles smuggling in peak period
	Kien Giang drags down smuggling in peak period
	Improve customs management capacity at Can Tho and Phu Quoc international airports

Phu Quoc Customs (Kien Giang) are making procedures for Russian flights to bring Russian citizens back homeamid the epidemic

Facing that situation, Kien Giang Customs Department has directed border gate customs units, the Customs Control Team and the Drug Prevention and Control Team to deploy many plans against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeiting, especially the coordination of forces to prevent the epidemic and smuggling.

On March 9, at the Ha Tien border gate area, Ha Tien border gate Customs Sub-Department in collaboration with Ha Tien border guard station checked Le Van Thanh's means of transporting goods, who was born in 1971, lives in My Duc Ward, Ha Tien City, Kien Giang Province. They detected Thanh transported 4,700 four-layer medical masks without any papers proving the legal origin. Thanh claimed to be a motorbike taxi driver.He said was hired by a Vietnamese in Cambodia to transport goods and he did not know anything about the goods until he was discovered.

Previously, on March 3, Ha Tien border gate Customs Sub-Department and Ha Tien border gate cooperated to seize 9,700 smuggled masks in the Ha Tien border area. While carrying out procedures for border residents at Ha Tien border gate, customs officials discovered a Cambodian hiding 192 boxes (9,600 pieces) of unidentified medical masks. Medical masks are items that require an export license under new provisions of the Resolution 20/NQ-CP dated on February 28, on the application of the export licensing regime for medical masks during the Covid-19 epidemic.The Customs Branch of Ha Tien border gate temporarily seized the evidence for further verification and handling.

Customs and Border Protection Ha Tien (Kien Giang) arrested the illegal masks.

In addition to fighting smuggling, Kien Giang Customs Department also directed units to strengthen measures to coordinate, prevent and control the epidemic on the border of land, seaports and airports. At the Ha Tien - Giang Thanh border roads, Ha Tien Border Gate Customs Branch operates with the Health Quarantine Force and Border Guards to carry out immigration procedures quickly; monitor and detect isolated objects, support human resources, means and facilities if necessary for Ha Tien city and Giang Thanh district to effectively prevent the epidemic.

In Phu Quoc Island, Phu Quoc Customs Branch also cooperated closely with the Health Quarantine and border gate police to speed up procedures, monitor normal flights and flights returning from the epidemic areas.In particular, the Sub-Department collaborated with functional forces to carry out customs procedures for Russian flights to Phu Quoc airport to bring Russian citizens back home with about 2,000 passengers to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic from March 25 to 28 with 12 flights of Azur Air (ZF) and Royal Flight Airlines (RL).

Currently, on Kien Giang border road, border gates and open trails have been closed, Phu Quoc airport temporarily stopped immigration procedures to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic. March was the hard time of Kien Giang Customs force in particular and the whole country in general in the fight against the epidemic.However, according to the forecast, the amount of contraband left because of the border closure may re-explode when the border is reopened, Kien Giang Customs said they would direct customs units atthe border gatesand airports, and control forces to work together to prevent the epidemic, not to neglect the anti-smuggling tasks, to control the geographical area, review subjects, and implement professional measures to combat smuggling.