Prohibited and smuggled goods find their way into Vietnam through every possible route.

SGGPO 07/06/2023 20:16

According to the General Department of Customs, the smuggling of prohibited and contraband goods remains complex and problematic. Besides high-value and high-profit items, smuggled goods such as chickens, ivory, and rhinoceros horns are now finding their way into the domestic market.

Prohibited and smuggled goods find their way into Vietnam through every possible route.

Contraband and smuggled goods find their way into Vietnam through every possible route (image 1).

Squadron 3 of the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department inspected and discovered a vessel disguised as a fishing boat illegally transporting 280,000 liters of fuel oil (FO) in the waters off Vung Tau.

According to information from the General Department of Customs, smuggling and illegal transportation of goods across the Vietnam-Laos land border (poultry, sugar, forest products, wildlife, tobacco, etc.) and across the Vietnam-Cambodia land border (drugs, firecrackers, gold, cigarettes, foreign currency, food, etc.) into the provinces of Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh, Long An , Dong Thap, An Giang, and Kien Giang is extremely complex.

The transportation of goods to bonded warehouses (Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria - Vung Tau , Binh Duong, Dong Nai) in transit to China and Cambodia continues to pose risks of substitution, embezzlement, and smuggling into the domestic market.

On sea routes, smugglers and those illegally transporting goods across borders focus on high-profit items such as: petroleum products, coal, minerals, used electronics and refrigeration equipment, scrap metal, frozen goods, poultry, etc.

The perpetrators employed many sophisticated tactics and new methods, operating in an organized manner, such as disguising ships carrying smuggled goods as fishing vessels, reinforcing tanks on vehicles entering and exiting the country to conceal the illegal buying, selling, and transportation of smuggled goods...

"In particular, wildlife products such as ivory and rhinoceros horns are tending to shift from seaports in the South and Central regions to northern provinces such as Hai Phong and Quang Ninh," the report stated.

Contraband and smuggled goods find their way into Vietnam through every possible route (image 2).

Customs officials have discovered a shipment of over 7 tons of ivory smuggled into Vietnam via Hai Phong port.

On air routes, taking advantage of regulations on tax-free allowances for passengers entering and exiting the country, the development of e-commerce, express delivery methods, and baggage handling services, domestic and foreign individuals collude to form smuggling rings, engage in trade fraud, and illegally transport goods and currency through international airports.

In addition, the trafficking and transportation of drugs into Vietnam remains a serious problem, occurring via land, sea, and air routes.

According to the General Department of Customs, in the first five months of 2023, customs forces detected, seized, and processed 6,540 cases, with the estimated value of infringing goods amounting to 2,119.8 billion VND. Customs authorities initiated legal proceedings in 12 cases and referred 59 cases to other agencies for prosecution. The amount collected and remitted to the state budget was 287.9 billion VND.

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