VCN – Many cases of smuggling and illicit trade of goods across the border during the peak period before and during the Lunar New Year were handled by Dong Thap Customs Department.
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| Contraband goods are seized by Dong Thap Customs Department in the days leading up to Tet. Photo: H.T |
According to the leader of the Customs Enforcement Team, Dong Thap Customs Department, Nguyen Huu Tam, performing the work against smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods and illegal cross-border transportation of goods before, during and after the Lunar New Year 2022, consecutively in the days leading up to Tet, Dong Thap Customs Department handled many cases of illegal goods.
Accordingly, So Thuong Customs Team of the Thuong Phuoc Border Gate Customs Branch in coordination with the Police of Thuong Thoi Hau A Commune, Doi Thuong Thoi Hau A Commune, and the Border Guard Control Station seized 1,500kg of crystallized sugar of all kinds which was carried by four people from Cambodia to Vietnam through the So Thuong river area.
On January 25, the working group at the area of Ca Sach market to Binh Tan Nhon bridge in Binh Hoa Thuong hamlet, Thuong Thoi Hau A commune, Hong Ngu district, Dong Thap province, seized 1,370 packs of foreign cigarettes of all kinds. The cigarettes were left by two young motorbike drivers at the scene when they were identified by the working group.
On the evening of the same day, the working group seized more than 74 kg of illegally imported sugar at Binh Hoa Trung hamlet, Thuong Thoi Hau A commune, Hong Ngu district.
The above-mentioned sugar was left on the roadside and covered with fresh tree branches. Customs officers said that smuggled goods were illegally brought from Cambodia to Vietnam for consumption. When discovered by the control force, smugglers left the goods behind and fled.
According to leader Nguyen Huu Tam, around the time of the Lunar New Year, the prices of some items, such as foreign cigarettes and crystallized sugar in Vietnam are higher than those in the Cambodia, so it attracts people to participate in illegal trading and transportation of these goods across the border, bringing them into the domestic market for consumption.
The offenders assigned people to monitor and guard, and when detecting the inspection force, they often left the goods and escaped. Therefore, most of the cases of smuggled goods seized by Dong Thap Customs Department in recent times were derelict goods.
In particular, in the week leading up to the Lunar New Year, Dong Thap Customs Department handled more than a dozen cases of illegal goods transportation. Of which, the Customs Enforcement Team alone detected three cases of smuggled cigarettes with nearly 2,000 packages.
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According to Dong Thap Customs Department, smuggling and illegal transportation of goods rose in the days before, during and after the Lunar New Year. The leaders of Dong Thap Customs Department guided its units to actively arrange officers to control the area under customs management and coordinate with other authorities to strictly control the borderline and promptly prevent smuggling and violations
By Le Thu/ Huyen Trang