In 2023, Customs seized over 2.8 tons of various drugs.

The General Department of Customs said that in 2023, the situation of drug crimes, illegal buying and selling and transporting of drugs across the border will remain very complicated and tend to increase.

The subjects often change the method of transportation, do not follow the rules with increasingly sophisticated tricks (hiding and disguising drugs as normal goods and luggage), are reckless and aggressive.

For road routes, it is mainly concentrated at border gates with Laos, Cambodia and China.

In particular, with air routes, the drug crime situation tends to increase in both the number of cases and the amount of evidence of violations, mainly concentrated through international airports: Noi Bai, Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang from European and American countries.

Including the shift from Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Noi Bai International Airport, then transported by road and rail to the South with synthetic drugs, modern medicines containing addictive substances, psychotropic substances, and marijuana.

"The perpetrators often disguise drugs in candy packages, functional foods, dog and cat food, cosmetics...", the General Department of Customs informed.

However, under the close and timely direction of leaders at all levels, along with the efforts of customs officers and civil servants, in 2023, the entire Customs sector (from December 16, 2022 to December 15, 2023) presided over and coordinated with the Police and Border Guard forces to detect and arrest 263 cases/303 subjects, of which the Customs agency presided over 121 cases.

The seized evidence included over 2.8 tons of various drugs including: 3.1 kg of opium, 108.7 kg of marijuana, 112.8 kg of heroin, 330.9 kg of cocaine, 1,547 kg of ketamine and 14,552 ketamine pills (pills), 703 kg of synthetic drugs, 4,224 synthetic drugs pills (pills), 10.1 kg of other drugs; 1,155 other drugs pills (pills), 96.36 grams of marijuana and 300 bags of water.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tho - Deputy Director General of the General Department of Customs ( Ministry of Finance ) - emphasized that the important task this year is to fight against smuggling and trade fraud. In particular, the fight against and prevention of drugs is the focus.

"We have determined that drug trafficking and transportation activities are increasingly sophisticated in their methods and tactics, and their locations are constantly changing. Based on that requirement, the General Department has directed specialized units to develop a plan from the beginning of the year for implementation," said the leader of the General Department of Customs.

In addition to proactively collecting information and understanding the area, Mr. Tho said the customs sector will increase equipment and screening machines to make drug prevention activities more effective.

Currently, the customs sector is in the process of equipping a large number of luggage scanners at land border gates, airports, and seaports, ensuring the screening of goods to detect new types of drugs.

"Currently, drugs are hidden in sophisticated ways. Some types of drugs cannot be detected by sniffer dogs. When they are hidden in machinery or in sealed molds, they cannot be detected without a scanner," said the leader.

Once the methods and tricks are understood, the customs sector will coordinate with the police, border guards, and coast guard forces to combat and destroy the networks.

"If we arrest at the border gate, we will only catch the transporter, so we must coordinate with other forces to destroy the trafficking ring," Mr. Nguyen Van Tho added.

Source