Long An Customs strictly anti-smuggling in the end of 2017

Long An Customs officers go on patrol at the area of Van Co Tay river. Photo: Nguyễn Huế

Long An Customs Department said that, from the beginning of the year until now, the situation of smuggling outside the scope of Customs operations area is complicated because the area adjoins the side gate of the border, a borderline that has wide and flat terrain, many paths, rivers and canals ... Hence, it is very convenient for transporting smuggled goods. The main commodities are cigarettes, fruits, waste products, steel ... In the customs management area, the smuggling and transport of illegal goods across borders has occurred on a small scale. The smugglers are mostly people living on the two sides of the borderline. They take advantage of the time when there are no competent forces to transport goods along the path adjoining the border for domestic consumption. Particularly, people who cross the border for cockfights and gambling are the potential agents for smuggling, including hidden money and narcotics through the border. This especially happens regularly in the area of My Quy Tay Customs Branch in Duc Hue border province.

According to Mr. Le Nam Quoc, Deputy Director of Long An Customs Department, in order to strictly control the smuggling situation in the management area, the leaders of the Department have directed Customs Enforcement Units and Customs Branches in the border gate to strengthen the fight against smuggling in the border area of customs operation. At the same time, close coordination with other competent units such as Border Guard, Police, Market Management, to exchange, provide information on the situation in the area, objects, and methods of smuggling to take effective measures to fight.

Accordingly, the Customs Enforcement force of the Department regularly carry out the inspection and control in the area, maintain good relationship with other competent forces in the work of prevention and anti-smuggling and trade fraud. As a result, the inspection and handling of violations against Customs regulations on declaration, tax declaration and cross-border smuggling are effectively carried out by the Customs Enforcement Unit and Customs Branches with 175 cases. The administrative fines earned in the year were 3.99 billion VND; tax fixing by 13.63 billion VND.

In particular, the fight against smuggling across borders in 2017, the Customs Enforcement Unit and Customs Branch has detected and arrested 6 cases of smuggling and illegal transport of goods across border. In that, there are 3 smuggling cases of smuggling cigarettes at My Quy Tay border gate, confiscated over 2,000 packets of imported cigarettes; three cases of illegal transporting money across border at Binh Hiep and My Quy Tay border gate with a total amount of money of nearly 359 million VND.

In addition, the anti-smuggling forces of the Long An Customs Department have coordinated with other competent forces such as Police forces and Border Guard to seize a case of transporting waste product and a case of smuggling cigarettes cross border. The exhibits included a barge and more than 85,000 kilograms of scrap iron and 5,000 smuggled cigarettes.

Hence, in the last months of 2017, the movement of cigarettes, consumer goods, Vietnamese currency and foreign currencies in the border area would be complicated. Thus, in order to strictly control anti-smuggling activities, Mr. Le Nam Quoc said that the unit has promulgated the plan of peak season anti-smuggling, trade frauds and illegal transport goods cross-border... at the end of 2017, and before and after the Lunar New Year 2018. Accordingly, the leaders of the Department asked the Customs Enforcement team and Customs Branches to speed up the collection of information, the situation in the area, strengthen patrols and strictly control the border areas in order to prevent the smuggling activities in customs operation areas. In addition, regular coordination with other competent forces in the area such as police, border guard and market management to exchange information, grasp the situation in management area, organizations and individuals engaged in smuggling activities cross border, especially in the areas of trails, openings, border side gates.