450 fake Rolex watches worth 45 billion VND seized at Tra Linh border gate
(Chinhphu.vn) - During a peak month, customs forces discovered and handled many smuggling and trade fraud cases, including the seizure of 450 fake Rolex watches. According to the representative of the intellectual property rights owner, the above shipment is estimated to have a total value of about 45 billion VND based on the price of genuine goods.
Báo Chính Phủ•19/06/2025
Counterfeit watches seized
Peak efforts against counterfeit and pirated goods
Strictly implementing the direction of the Government, the Ministry of Finance and the Customs Department on strengthening the fight against smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods and intellectual property rights violations, the anti-smuggling force of the customs sector has proactively deployed many synchronous and drastic measures. In which, the Anti-smuggling Control Team No. 1 - under the Anti-smuggling Investigation Department has played a pivotal role.
Specifically, during nearly a month of peak implementation of the instructions from superiors, Team 1 coordinated with local customs units, especially the Customs Sub-Department of Region VI, to conduct field inspections and promptly arrest 21 cases of customs law violations.
The most notable incident occurred on June 17, 2025 at the Tra Linh International Border Gate ( Cao Bang Province), where the Working Group of Team 1 discovered a container of goods from China with signs of violations. According to the initial declaration, this container contained consumer goods with a total weight of more than 24 tons. However, upon actual inspection, the customs force discovered that a large amount of goods had not been declared to customs.
Among them, 450 wristwatches were found to have signs of infringing the intellectual property rights of the ROLEX brand, along with many other general merchandise such as cosmetics, lighters, power banks, bras, car lights, etc. At the time of inspection, the enterprise could not present documents proving legal ownership of the Rolex branded products.
According to the representative of the intellectual property rights holder, the total value of the above shipment is estimated at about 45 billion VND based on the price of genuine goods. The case is currently being processed according to legal regulations.
Subject and evidence of illegal transportation of Japanese Yen were arrested
Continually detecting counterfeit goods of major brands
Not stopping there, before the time of the seizure of the container containing 450 fake Rolex watches, from June 1 to June 15, 2025, Team 1 also proactively coordinated with Tra Linh Border Gate Customs to inspect and detect 4 more violations of a similar nature.
Specifically, the seized exhibits include more than 5,700 counterfeit products of famous international brands such as TOMMY, CELINE, NIKE, LOUIS VUITTON, LACOSTE, ADIDAS, NEW BALANCE. In addition, there are a series of undeclared general merchandise products such as clothes, handbags, sports shoes, battery chargers, lighters... Notably, among the violating products, there are more than 700 pairs of sports shoes with both fake ADIDAS, NEW BALANCE brands and fake "Made in Vietnam" origin to deceive consumers.
Not only at land borders, at international airports, especially Noi Bai International Airport, the control of smuggling and illegal foreign currency transportation has also been stepped up. The export baggage procedures team - Noi Bai International Airport Customs (CKSBQT) has deployed many professional measures such as passenger risk assessment, thorough baggage screening, and monitoring of key flights.
At 10:20 p.m. on June 8, 2025, while completing exit procedures for passengers on flight VN310 from Hanoi to Narita (Tokyo, Japan), the Customs force discovered that passenger Nguyen Huu Lam was acting suspiciously. Through a check of his carry-on luggage by X-ray, an envelope containing a large amount of paper money was discovered.
The inspection results determined that this envelope contained 690 bills of 10,000 Japanese Yen (equivalent to about 1.1 billion VND at the present time). The entire amount was not declared to the customs authority and the passenger could not present legal documents related to the above foreign currency. Immediately after verification, the Investigation Police Department - Hanoi City Police Department issued a decision to initiate a criminal case and prosecute Nguyen Huu Lam for the act of illegally transporting goods and currency across the border.
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