Hanoi Customs: Prevent smuggled goods inland by air

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Officials of Customs Sub-Department at Noi Bai International Airport in coordination with the police force in drug counting in the project EM620. Photo: N.Linh

Struggle with violations

Deputy Director of Customs Express Trinh Ngoc Ban said that the current situation of illegal transportation of narcotics is complicated; the casesbecome more and more sophisticated, illegal transportation of narcotics from abroad to Vietnam via many routes, including from Europe.

“The transport of drugsis increasingly sophisticated; the subjects grasp the situation of relevant forces deployed to find tricks to avoid the inspection and control of the forces. For example, when the related forces intensified controlof routes from Europe to Ho Chi Minh City, they immediately turned to the north,” Mr. Trinh Ngoc Ban said.

Recently, the leaders of the Hanoi Customs Department directed Customs Branches to take the initiative in strengthening management measures, actively coordinating with the Drug Prevention Control Team and other competent forces to implement to struggle, such asmaking a specialized project, getting the target and key points in order to direct officials to directly conduct the process of professional inspection and supervision; and identify new methods and tricks to promptly prevent them.

According to Mr. Trinh Ngoc Ban, the seizureof large quantities of drugs through express delivery by airwas chaired by the Hanoi Customs Department to set up the EM620 case from June 2020, the arrestand seizure in July showed the increasingly sophisticated activity of the suspects. In that case, the competent forces discovered and handled fourcases via express mail and one case through the Customs Branch of Noi Bai International Airport, arresting six people. Subjects usedsophisticated tricks and camouflage to pack drugs in medicine bottles and nutritional foodsto bring to Vietnam under the cover of gifts.When transporting these items, suspectshid the smuggling goods intypes of cosmetics in order to evaderelevant forces.

In project EM620, chaired by the Hanoi Customs Department, the Customs Sub-Department at Noi Bai International Airport and other forces detected illegal transportation of narcotics. According to the Director of the Customs Sub-Department at the Noi Bai International Airport in Phan Quoc Dong, the tricks of the suspectsare very sophisticated and disguised in the goods includingmodern medicine and nutritional foods.

Assessing the fight against drugs, the Director of the Customs Sub-Department at Noi Bai International Airport at the border gate Phan Quoc Dong said that the task of drug prevention is an important political task of the Customssector. The unit has a plan to deploy the process of performing operations such asinvestigating the situation and collecting information.

Not only fighting the illegal transportation of narcotics, the Customs Sub-Department at Noi Bai International Airport has also actively discovered many cases of illegal transportation of goods. Especially in the peak period of prevention and control of Covid-19, the unit promptly detected cases of smuggled face masks, protective equipment, and issued three decisions to prosecute criminal cases on smuggling charges against three companies that illegally transported medical masks occurring at Noi Bai International Airport.

Strengthening control

Facing the situation of smuggling and illegal transportation of narcotic substances by air, there is a high risk, Director General Phan Quoc Dong said that the drug prevention and control plan as well as the prevention and control of smuggling Department leaders set out a key task in the current period when commercial flights return as usual after a period of interruption.

This will be an opportunity for the suspectsillegally transporting goods to perform illegal acts.

The Customs Sub-department at Noi Bai International Airport determines that this is the time to prevent smuggling and fight against drug-related crimes as a duty to be further strengthened.

“The leadership of the sub-department has asked the sections and teams to closely follow the plans and directives of the higher levels to strengthen the measures of patrol, control, gathering information to prevent and fight effectively from now until the end of the year,” Mr. Phan Quoc Dong said.

Deputy Head of the Express Customs Department Trinh Ngoc Ban said that the Hanoi Customs Department has directed the Drug Control Team to coordinate with organizing units to grasp the situation, plan to deploy, promptly detect the group, classify suspects, check and control key routes such as the Netherlands, Germany, the US.

For anti-smuggling work, the department has deployed all cadres and civil servants when implementing the task. Perform goods classification as well as the suspects.

"When detecting goods suspected of hiding drugs, goods in the banned goods group have a plan to report to the leadership to deploy and coordinate with forces, the goal is to catch the objects and violated goods," Trinh Ngoc Ban said.