Part 3: The weird coincidence of two shipments imported into Vietnam

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Cocaine hidden in a scrap steel import shipment was seized in July 2018.

The route of 119 kg of cocaine hidden in the fish meal

On May 6, at Warehouse Lot 2, My Tho Industrial Park (located in Provincial Road 864, Binh Tao Hamlet, Trung An Commune, My Tho City, Tien Giang Province), Tien Giang Police coordinated with C04 - Ministry of Public Security, Anti-Smuggling Enforcement Team - Binh Duong Customs Department, Southern Anti-Drug Enforcement Team (Team 6) - Anti- Smuggling and Investigation Department - The General Department of Vietnam Customs inspected a container numbered TCNU5869923 imported by an enterprise in Binh Duong, who made the customs declaration. The competent force detected a large amount of drugs.

The consignment of 19 containers contained cocaine, which were imported directly by Uni - President Vietnam, which is located in Song Than II Industrial Park, Di An Town, Binh Duong Province. In the customs declaration, the enterprise declared its imported products as Peruvian Steam Dried Fishmeal - raw material used to produce aquatic food. The whole shipment was transported to a separate warehouse by the enterprise to Lot 2, My Tho Industrial Park, My Tho City, Tien Giang Province for preservation and waiting for the quality inspection results in order to complete cargo clearance procedure in accordance with regulations.

Cocaine in black bags was detected in April 2019

However, during loading into the warehouse, the competent forces discovered four suspicious black bags in the container, on investigation they detected 119 kg of cocaine.

The Customs agency then expanded the investigation. Through research, it found that the shipment has a long journey. In particular, there was a noticeable detail that the cargo ship docked at the port of Kaohsiung - Taiwan (China) for nearly a week before continuing its journey. 19 containers, including over 500 tons of goods, were loaded and began its voyage at Callao port - Peru on March 17, 2019. On April 19, the ship arrived in Kaohsiung - Taiwan (China) and docked there until April 24, the ship continued its journey to Vietnam and docked at Cat Lai - HCMC port at the end of April 2019. This imported shipment was animal food derived from animals and according to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the shipment must be quarantined. After the enterprise carried out Customs declaration registration, the shipment was taken to the warehouse of the enterprise in Tien Giang for preservation to wait for the results of animal quarantine.

Weird coincidence

This is the second import container containing cocaine via sea freight discovered and seized recently. In July 2018, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Customs Department also discovered import scrap containers of an enterprise containing 119 kg of cocaine. These two shipments of cocaine have weird coincidences in the number, concealment tricks and route.

According to the extended inspection by Customs authorities, the fish meal container containing 119kg cocaine was imported by Uni-President in Binh Duong. This company has been licensed to operate in Binh Duong since 1999, it has imported fish meal from 12 foreign partners for many years. The company signed to buy this shipment from a Hong Kong company which had bought them from a Peruvian company. After discovering the imported fish meal contained cocaine, the company informed the parent company in Taiwan to talk with partners. However, its partner denied any knowledge of the cocaine discovered in Vietnam.

Analyzing the journey of the shipment, customs officials said that the shipment was delivered from a company in Peru as an order of a company in Hong Kong. Concerning the shipment's journey, it was likely that drug traffickers put cocaine into the shipment to transport. This case was investigated by competent forces for clarification.

The case of 119 kg cocaine hidden in an imported scrap container in July 2018 had many similarities to the above shipment. According to the customs declaration, this container was scrap steel with a weight of 16,160kg the shipment's owner being Singaporean company Stamcorp International Pte. Ltd. and its recipient as local firm in Phu My. Through inspection, the functional force also discovered four black bags containing 119kg cocaine.

The voyage of the container containing the cocaine was also very complicated, transported through several countries before docking in Vietnam. The cargo ship departed from Trinidad & Tobago before docking in Panama. The container was then transported by road to another port in Panama. After leaving the port in Panama, the container was transported to Shenzhen, China and finally docked at Cai Mep port, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province where it was seized.

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According to the customs force, taking advantage of the import of raw materials into Vietnam for production, smugglers have used many tricks to hide illegal goods. Two imported shipments of fish meal and scrap steel containing 238 kg of cocaine (each container contains 119 kg) are typical examples. Currently, the Customs Department is implementing many solutions to control and prevent violations of drug trafficking into Vietnam and from Vietnam to third countries.