Bo Y International Border Gate is one of the busiest border gates in the Central Highlands region - Photo: VGP/HT
Proactively maintain the area and closely control the situation
The Central Highlands stretches through many international border gates such as Le Thanh ( Gia Lai ), Bo Y (Kon Tum) - bustling trading places, with many potential risks of smuggling and illegal transportation of goods.
At Bo Y border gate, Mr. Nguyen Quyet Thang, Head of Bo Y International Border Gate Customs, said: The complex mountainous terrain makes smuggling, especially of fireworks, drugs, and precious metals, difficult to control thoroughly. Some subjects even arrange people to monitor the authorities to avoid inspection. Faced with this reality, customs at the border gates have increased the control of people, vehicles, and luggage using scanners, closely coordinating with local forces.
Not only that, the Bo Y International Border Guard Station also regularly coordinates with local people in patrolling, preventing border crossings, fighting smuggling, illegal entry and drug trafficking.
Mr. Cao Dang Que - Captain of Le Thanh International Border Gate Customs - Photo: VGP/HT
At Le Thanh border gate, since its early years, customs officers at Le Thanh have had to overcome many difficulties. Mr. Cao Dang Que - Captain of Le Thanh International Border Gate Customs said: The border gate was established in 1987 and converted into an international border gate in 2007. In 2025, the unit will officially be under the Regional Customs Branch XIV. Although it is an area with underdeveloped economic activities, Le Thanh Customs still closely follows customs reform and modernization, constantly improving service quality, creating convenience for businesses and people.
Anti-smuggling work at Le Thanh international border gate has been strictly implemented. Although no major violations have been detected since the beginning of the year, the unit still maintains patrols on both sides of the border, in potential areas such as Lang Bi, Lang Nu, Ia Dom commune (Duc Co district, Gia Lai).
However, smuggling in this area is mainly small-scale and spontaneous. Key items are foreign currency, fireworks, cigarettes, wood, wildlife, drugs, etc. The area is large and difficult to travel, so when discovered, the subjects often run into the forest, causing difficulties for the authorities.
Customs coordinated to discover nearly 2kg of drugs hidden in a backpack at Moc Bai international border gate
Resolutely fight against drugs and cross-border smuggling
According to Mr. Ho Van Dung - Deputy Head of the Regional Customs Branch XIV (in charge of Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces - headquartered in Dak Lak), the situation of drug trafficking across the border in this area is unpredictable, especially at Bo Y border gate. To cope, the unit has increased inspection and supervision with modern equipment, deployed peak periods, and coordinated with border guards, police, and market management.
In fact, according to statistics from the Customs Department: From mid-December 2024 to mid-May 2025, the national Customs force seized up to 1.9 tons of drugs in 76 cases, 83 suspects. Many drug cases were cleverly disguised in chocolate candy, synthetic seeds...
Faced with this situation, the Customs Department has directed the entire industry to deploy a month of action to suppress drug crimes and strictly control the import and export of precursor chemicals.
Ho Van Dung said: It is necessary to maintain regular forces at hot spots, combining technology applications for remote prevention.
"It is possible that criminals are moving from hot spots like Nghe An and Ha Tinh to the Central Highlands - where they think they will attract less attention," said Mr. Ho Van Dung.
Mr. Ho Van Dung - Deputy Head of the Regional Customs Branch XIV (in charge of Gia Lai and Dak Lak provinces - headquartered in Dak Lak) - Photo: VGP/HT
Recently, the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department (Customs Department) worked with the Regional Customs Department XIV on implementing the peak month for anti-smuggling. Mr. Dang Thanh Dung - Deputy Head of the Department emphasized the role of customs control in preventing smuggling and trade fraud crimes.
A representative of the Customs Department of Region XIV affirmed: The unit is closely following the direction of the Department's leaders, building a modern and professional control force. Previously, on May 23, the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department also worked with the Customs Department of Region IX in Quang Binh with the same goal.
According to Mr. Ho Van Dung - Deputy Head of the Regional Customs Branch XIV: The Customs sector is in the process of promoting modernization, applying information technology to all operational stages such as electronic customs clearance, risk management, goods supervision, etc. to improve management efficiency, make procedures transparent and minimize manual intervention. At the same time, the sector is also streamlining its staff in accordance with the direction of the Central Resolutions such as Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW and Resolution No. 39-NQ/TW, aiming to build a streamlined apparatus that operates effectively and efficiently.
One of the issues that must be noted in the current context during the implementation process is the solution to reorganize the apparatus, ensuring efficiency and stability. Currently, the Regional Customs Branch XIV manages the area of 5 provinces in the Central Highlands with 172 civil servants, including 6 departments/teams and 5 customs offices at border gates/outside border gates. Although the branch is being reorganized and streamlined, it still has to ensure continuous operation without interruption.
Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thao - Head of Personnel Department of Customs Branch XIV - Photo: VGP/HT
Further analysis, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thao - Head of the Personnel Department of Customs Branch XIV said: Due to the nature of the work, customs continuously has in-depth professional training courses. However, there are times when there is too much work, requiring frequent overtime and night work due to the unstable staffing in the department, civil servants in the department are often transferred, so adapting to deploy high-quality tasks is a challenge that must be overcome to achieve.
Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thao also frankly shared: The process of rotating cadres still has many concerns, especially when having to work hundreds of kilometers away from home, greatly affecting the arrangement of family work, not to mention the arising living expenses. To overcome this, Customs Region XIV advocates reasonable rotation arrangements, especially flexible for female cadres with family circumstances.
Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thao said: Currently, there are temporary officers staying at official residences. In the long term, the Customs Department of Region XIV has proposed a number of specific proposals, including: supporting business expenses and housing for transferred officers; shortening the rotation time; providing laptops and iPads for professional purposes... to increase work efficiency.
Huy Thang
Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/kien-quyet-giu-canh-cua-tay-nguyen-hai-quan-day-manh-ngan-buon-lau-chong-ma-tuy-102250616212026001.htm
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