157 customs-related cases prosecuted

	Nearly 2,800 cases of drugs and wildlife seized in Operation Mekong Dragon
	Valuable experiences from drug cases busted by Customs
	Handling nearly 14,000 cases of violations in the field of customs

Fake goods seized by Hai Phong Customs. Photo: T.Binh

Regarding smuggling activities in November, the General Department of Customs said the situation of illicit trade and cross-border transportation of goods, trade fraud and drugs trafficking is increasing on air, express and land routes with many sophisticated methods and tricks to evade the control of the authorities.

To proactively collect information and grasp the actual situation in the area to have timely instructions, the General Department of Customs has strengthened direction, warning and training of professional skills for anti-smuggling forces throughout the sector and enhanced the fight against drug abuse; developed regulations on coordination between police and customs in the fight against drug-related crimes.

In November 2022, the General Department of Customs continued to request local customs departments to step up measures to combat smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods at the border, sea areas and inland areas according to Plan No. 92/KH-BCD dated September 13, 2022 and Document No. 79/BTC-BCD389 dated September 14, 2022 of the Ministry of Finance and the National Steering Committee 389 on strengthening anti-smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods at the border lines, sea areas and inland areas.

In addition, the country’s top customs authority organized online and offline conferences to train professional skills in combating smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeiting in the whole sector.

As a result of November (reporting period from October 16 to November 15), the whole Customs sector handled 2,135 cases of Customs law violations. The value of infringing goods is estimated at VND1,001 billion. The customs prosecuted 10 cases and transferred two cases to other agencies and collected VND90,710 billion.

Three cases of smuggled and banned goods prosecuted

As of November 15, the whole Customs sector presided over and coordinated with other agencies to handle 16,031 cases with infringing goods worth VND 5,791 billion; and VND425,6 billion remitted to the State budget. The customs prosecuted 45 cases and transferred 112 cases to other agencies for prosecution.