Identifying tricks of smuggling and trade fraud through Ho Chi Minh City

The Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department discovered a violated shipment of imported goods at the end of 2022. Photo: T.H

According to the leader of the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, through the violations detected in recent years, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has pointed out many sophisticated frauds, such as: wrong name, taking advantage of the preferential and quick customs clearance to perform the "chosen flow" trick. For example, the same shipment but it is declared many declarations in the same sub-department or different sub –Departments. If it is the red flow, they will cancel the declaration and then choose the yellow and green flow to clear the goods. Furthermore, deliberately declare many items, but in fact, there is only one item and vice versa to evade taxes; deliberately declare other goods with low taxes and low prices; deliberately declare very high tax, but it contains banned goods, fake goods, conditional imported goods. Besides, the situation of businesses has taken advantage of the type of processing, and export production, using preferential policies, favourable conditions in import procedures and tax policies for enterprises with export production activities to import raw materials. After completing customs procedures, there are cases when only a part of raw materials is put into production to create export products; the remaining raw materials are sold into the domestic market without customs procedures, not changing the purpose of use as prescribed, to benefit from the tax difference and item policy.

In 2022, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department presided over and coordinated with functional forces to detect and arrest 83 drug cases. Collected exhibits are more than 213 kg of drugs and precursors of all kinds.

Besides, some cases take advantage of the types of transhipment. For example, due to the implementation of customs procedures in this type of declaration, the subject has taken advantage of the regulations on not having to declare in detail for transit goods, so the prohibited goods, conditionally, fake brands, violations of origin, violations of intellectual property, animal and plant quarantine goods during transit have been transported.

Along with that, the subjects take advantage of the electronic customs management method to use smuggling tricks such as: using electronic signatures to issue to some individuals and organizations that are not businesses to counterfeit Customs declarations to smuggle and fraudulent import and export of goods; taking advantage of the rules for canceling and correcting declarations to deal with risk assessment, channeling on the professional information system, avoiding the inspection and control of the customs office or legalizing violated shipments; taking advantage of e-commerce (taking advantage of the delivery method from the sender's hand to the recipient and the package customs procedures of the Door To Door shipping model) to transport banned goods, non-license goods, rare wild animals.

Subjects taking advantage of the above delivery method to perform tricks such as; The address of the delivery is not real, connecting with the shipping agent to transfer the prohibited goods when detecting mistakes, there being no senders and recipients, trademark information about the product are always incorrect (goods are purchased online, websites, homemade) leading to the investigation with many difficulties. In addition, there are other fraudulent acts such as; fraud, fake goods, violations of intellectual property, taking advantage of the regulation on simplifying procedures for establishing businesses to counterfeit papers, establishing "ghost businesses", hiring directors, hiring people to carry out customs procedures to import and export goods for banned and high-valued goods then usurp hundreds of billions of dong, then escape.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, smuggling and trade fraud are increasingly unpredictable and variable, and new forms of fraud appear. The unit will strengthen the application of modern management measures, check the goods with a scanner, and exchange professional information with units inside and outside the sector to detect and prevent timely acts of smuggling and fraud with sophisticated and complex tricks.

Simultaneously, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department promptly issued the document to direct the professional units to conduct the prevention of money laundering and fighting against terrorism; Anti-smuggling fake goods and protecting intellectual property rights; fight against smuggling and petroleum trade fraud; strengthen the coordination of prevention and control of smuggling and illegal transportation of goods across the border; managing and fighting against smuggling, trade frauds and fake goods in e–commerce. Besides, strengthening coordination between forces inside and outside the sector. In 2022, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department made 318 coordinating reports of units.

On January 30, 2023, the Drug-Related Crime Investigating Department- Ministry of Public Security in collaboration with the border police and imported luggage procedures, Tan Son Nhat International Airport Customs Branch discovered and arrested Autchara Pimpawa passengers, Thai nationality, transporting 2.9 kg of cocaine from Ethiopia entering Vietnam through Tan Son Nhat International Airport border gate. Female passengers hide the above drugs in personal belongings contained in hand luggage.