Lang Son: Counterfeit money “hot” on the border;

Lang Son Customs: Reduces clearance time to increase revenues

The anti - smuggling Force of Lang Son Customs arrest perpetrators of counterfeit money trading and transporting. (Photo: Documentation)

On June 1st, in the Tan Thanh temple area of Tan Thanh commune, Van Lang district, Lang Son province, the Anti-Smuggling Task Force of Tan Thanh Customs Branch (Lang Son Customs Department) in cooperation with the working group of the security investigation department (PA 92- the Lang Son Provincial Police) and the Tan Thanh border forces discovered that Nguyen Van Chieu, born in 1993, residing in Ban Dat commune, Phu Binh district, Thai Nguyen province, a mechanic working at Cao Bang, had many questionable actions. The task forces requested tests and discovered one stack of Vietnam money, in VND 200,000 denominations stashed inside his shoes. Nguyen Van Chieu confessed that the money was counterfeit with a face value of VND 30 million VND and he purchased the money from a Chinese man in the Po Chai market for 6 million VND.

Then, on June 12st, the Working Group of the Economic Security Department coordinating with the Border Station at the Coc Nam border gate arrested Nguyen Van Bien, born in 1981, resident of Thanh Tam Commune, Chon Thanh District, Binh Phuoc province when he was transporting 100 million counterfeit Vietnam dong in VND 200,000 denominations from China to Vietnam.

These are just two typical cases that the authorities discovered and arrested most recently. According to statistics from the beginning of the year, the Lang Son police forces have discovered and arrested 9 cases, 11 perpetrators and seized more than 1 billion counterfeit Vietnam dong and 3,000 fake US dollars.

According to the assessment of the functional forces in the Lang Son province, the crime situation becomes more complicated with increasingly more sophisticated methods. Because this is a ‘super profit commodity”, the price of the counterfeit money ranges from 15% - 30% of the value of the real money in the nearly bordering areas Lung Vai, Lung Nghiu (China), from 10-15% in deep inland China. To deal with the functional force, counterfeit money criminals frequently change their trading and transporting methods, colluded tightly between the Vietnamese nationals and Chinese people to form smuggling rings. Meanwhile, those who produce counterfeit money move deeply into the territory of China, so that the prevention and fight against counterfeit money smuggling is made more difficult.

According to the Lang Son Customs Department, if counterfeit money transfer and consumption goes undetected, perpetrators would collect up to 70% of the counterfeit money face value, because only 20-30 thousand real money collected 100 thousand counterfeit money at the border... Not only high profit, buy counterfeit cash is thinner and easier to hide and transport than other commodities so, many smugglers take part in trafficking and transporting counterfeit money. These people stop at nothing to transport counterfeit money from abroad to Vietnam. Some provincial smugglers associated with people over the border, especially Vietnamese people who married Chinese, take advantage of the technology communication development and the long and complicated border systems to organize and form counterfeit money trafficking and transport lines. After dealing price, they would see the goods, if it can be sold, they would seek to bring goods into the domestic

The Lang Son Border Guards said that Vietnam counterfeit money was mainly produced and printed abroad, therefore, effectively preventing this type of crime requires strengthened coordination between the two countries Vietnam and China, to work to destroy the dens of production, or in other words, to “eradicate” transnational counterfeiting trafficking at its roots.

According to the forecast of the Lang Son Customs Department, counterfeit money smuggling and transport remains a constant threat. The main tricks and methods are transport through the trails, the two backstage sides in the area of border gates and pin, mix, bury on import – export vehicles through the gates.

With the determination to fight and prevent this crime, the forces of the Lang Son police, border guard and Customs have implemented many specialist measures; regularly enhanced the control patrols in the trails and minor roads, and set up barricades at border gate areas and on transport routes. These forces continue to work at preventing, fighting and suppressing crimes, determined not to allow counterfeit money to be introduced into the domestic market.

However, to continue to fight effectively with the counterfeit money crimes, there should be much more coordination. At the same time, the prevention, fighting, and suppression should continue; besides, the authorities need to actively promote among the people about the methods and tricks of counterfeit money criminals, the identification the counterfeit money, the consequences and the effects of the purchase, transport and circulation of counterfeit money in order to raise the sense of vigilance, and participation in crime reporting

The Lang Son Customs Department has also directed the border gate Customs Branches enhance coordination with functional forces in provincial area for patrolling and controlling trails, minor roads along the borders and the two backstage sides in the customs operation areas to promptly detect the acts of transporting, storing and circulating counterfeit money.