Prosecution of two cases of smuggling used machinery worth tens of billions of dong

Khởi tố hai vụ buôn lậu máy móc đã qua sử dụng với giá trị hàng chục tỉ đồng- Ảnh 1. — The customs authority affirmed that any act of taking advantage of the policy for smuggling and profiteering will be strictly handled according to the law, in order to ensure a transparent business environment.

The Government has issued regulations on the import of used machinery, equipment and technological lines, which only allow imports to directly serve the production activities of enterprises. Implementing the Government's direction, the General Department of Customs (now the Customs Department) has issued many documents directing and guiding regional customs branches on documents, procedures and customs procedures for the import of used machinery.

In 2025, through information collection and understanding of the local situation, the customs authority found that the import of used machinery, equipment and technological lines to directly serve the production of domestic enterprises had many potential risks of violations. Implementing the direction of the Customs Department's leaders, the Anti-smuggling Investigation Department conducted inspections and verifications at a number of enterprises importing used machinery to directly serve production activities.

Verification results show that there are many violations in the import of used machinery, including: enterprises do not have factories for production, do not have production activities but falsely declare the purpose of importing used machinery on customs declarations to legalize customs clearance documents; falsely commit to the customs authority where the declaration is registered to import machinery to directly serve production activities; create fake import authorization contracts to present and submit to customs authorities to obtain customs clearance; after customs clearance, used machinery is sold commercially domestically for profit.

Through investigation, the Anti-smuggling Investigation Department discovered that between 2021 and 2025, an enterprise opened 19 import declarations for 325 used machines, including metal cutting machines/wire cutting machines using electric sparks, punching machines using electric discharge method, electric pulse metal cutting machines, CNC drilling machines and CNC machining centers, with a total customs declaration value of over 18 billion VND.

After importing, this enterprise sold 235 used machines to 140 enterprises, with a total value of over 23 billion VND, illegally profiting over 8 billion VND.

Continuing to expand the investigation, the Anti-smuggling Investigation Department discovered that in 2025, another enterprise opened 3 import declarations for 48 used machines, including metal cutting machines/wire cutting machines using electric sparks, punching machines using electric discharge method and CNC machining centers, with a total customs declaration value of 4.4 billion VND.

After importing, this enterprise sold 13 used machines to 13 businesses, with a total value of over 1.39 billion VND, illegally profiting nearly 600 million VND.

Realizing that the two cases had signs of crime, the Anti-smuggling Investigation Department discussed with the Supreme People's Procuracy (Department 3) to handle them according to the provisions of law. Up to now, the Anti-smuggling Investigation Department has issued two decisions to prosecute the criminal case of Smuggling under Article 188 of the 2015 Penal Code against the two above-mentioned enterprises.

The Customs Department said it will continue to direct regional customs branches, customs offices where declarations are registered, control teams, post-clearance inspection teams and risk management departments to strengthen inspection, control, information collection, and risk assessment at the following stages: detailed inspection of customs dossiers, physical inspection of goods, bringing goods into storage, customs clearance and post-clearance, risk assessment and consideration of post-clearance inspection for enterprises importing used machinery, equipment and technological lines.

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