Smuggling surges at year-end, customs authorities handle nearly 2,200 cases in a single month.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Smuggling and trade fraud are becoming increasingly complex on sea, land, and air routes. Customs forces have intensified control and handled nearly 2,200 violations in just one month.

Budget revenue reached 420,634 billion VND, exceeding the projected target.

The Customs Department - Ministry of Finance said that in the last months of the year, the customs sector focused on clearing goods, supporting local economic activities and increasing state budget revenue. Up to now, the total revenue of the sector has exceeded the estimated target.

In November, the total value of imports and exports reached 77.09 billion USD, down 5.4% compared to the previous month. Exports recorded 39.11 billion USD (down 7%), while imports reached 37.98 billion USD (down 3.7%). The trade surplus was 1.13 billion USD, lower than October but continuing to contribute positively to macroeconomic stability.

In the first 11 months, total import-export turnover reached 839.78 billion USD, up 17.2%, equivalent to 123.41 billion USD compared to the same period last year. Of which, exports reached 430.17 billion USD, up 16.1%, and imports reached 409.61 billion USD, up 18.4%. Trade surplus reached 20.56 billion USD, down slightly by 15.6% compared to the same period but still an important support for the macro balance.

Goods at the border gate (Photo: Hai Long).

The FDI business sector continued to play a leading role with a total import and export value of US$607.7 billion, an increase of 25.5%, accounting for over 72% of total trade turnover. Exports reached US$326.49 billion, an increase of 23.4%, and imports reached US$281.21 billion, an increase of 28%.

According to the Customs Department, in parallel with customs clearance management, the state budget collection from import-export activities of the entire industry continues to record positive results.

In November, revenue reached VND 39,118 billion, down 9.6% compared to October due to the impact of reduced turnover. The total accumulated revenue for 11 months reached VND 420,634 billion, equal to 102.3% of the estimate, equal to 89.5% of the target and increased by 9%, equivalent to VND 34,607 billion compared to the same period in 2024.

Increased budget revenue of over 948 billion VND from combating smuggling.

In November, the situation of smuggling and trade fraud continued to be complicated, especially of high-value items such as gold, currency, phones, counterfeit goods, firecrackers, drugs, old machinery, etc.

Violations are concentrated on Vietnam, China, Vietnam and Cambodia roads, air routes at Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat and Da Nang international ports and sea routes under Customs Sub-Departments of Regions II, III and XII.

Notably, at Hai Phong port, a shipment of 20,010 kg of usable shells and bullets was discovered, identified as military weapons, violating Article 304 of the 2025 Penal Code. This is one of the major cases, showing the sophisticated tricks of subjects taking advantage of the transit, transshipment, falsely declaring trademarks or mixing in illegal goods.

Authorities discovered and seized a shipment of 16 bags of imported military ammunition casings showing signs of violation (Photo: Customs Department).

In response to this situation, the Customs Department issued numerous directives, strengthened specialized controls, and tightened declarations for gold, counterfeit medicines, transit goods, and goods infringing intellectual property rights, etc.

From October 15th to November 14th, 2025, the entire sector detected and handled 2,176 violations, an increase of 30.6% compared to the same period last year. The estimated value of the violations was 2,199 billion VND, with 238.4 billion VND collected for the state budget. The customs agency initiated legal proceedings in 4 cases and transferred 15 cases to other agencies for prosecution.

Accumulated from December 15, 2024 to November 14, the number of detected and handled cases reached 17,297, the value of infringing goods was estimated at VND 21,751 billion, and the budget revenue reached VND 948.73 billion. The customs sector prosecuted 20 cases and transferred 115 cases to other agencies.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/buon-lau-tang-cuoi-nam-nganh-hai-quan-xu-ly-gan-2200-vu-trong-mot-thang-20251210011203679.htm