Many drug investigation experiences of the Southern Customs

Functional forces are checking the drug substance in the arrested material.

Many major investigations

One of the units having many successes in participating in the arrest of transnational drug trafficking on a large scale is Team 6, Department of Investigation against Smuggling - General Department of Customs. Over the past time, Team 6 has collaborated with functional units inside and outside the industry to successfully destroy 4 of the largest number of drug arrests in the region so far, capturing the subjects, holding the heads, and operating lines. Typically, Team 6 has coordinated to capture two large drug trafficking lines operating cross-country from Laos and Cambodia to Vietnam, involving many areas with many participants; seizing 218 cakes of heroin, about 30 kg of rock drugs and arresting 19 smugglers...

According to Mrs. Vu Thi Thu Ha, Leader of Team 6, Department of Anti-Smuggling Investigation, this is a complete success story from the monitoring of smugglers, seizing large amounts of material evidence, to ensuring secrecy, safety, and absolute security in all aspects for the participating specialized forces. This is also an exemplary model for the task of establishing specialists, the plan for specialized struggles, and especially the coordination of functional forces in the plan of solving cases.

As a unit with many achievements in the detection and arrest of illegal transport of narcotics, only in the peak months of drug prevention and control, the Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City has checked, detected and seized 12 cases of illegal transportation of narcotics in the border gates managed by the unit, capturing a total of 19,948 kg of drugs.

One of the latest achievements in a recent discovery and seizure of drugs by the Customs sector belongs to the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Customs Department. On the 24th July, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Customs Department cooperated with PC 47 Police of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province to seize 100 cocaine cakes (originating in South America and the Caribbean) hidden in a container of imported scrap taken into Cai Mep port on the same day. This is the largest drug seizure ever in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province with about 115 kg of cocaine, estimated at 700 billion VND.

Part of the drug seized at a courier delivery.

Diverse experiences of solving cases

Ms. Vu Thi Thu Ha said that since the successful resolution of the specialists, it shows that the forces fighting drug prevention in general and the Customs in particular have made very hard efforts to fight against drug criminals. Each reconnaissance officer in the specialized board shall be selected and assigned with specific and clear tasks in order to bring into full play the capabilities and skills of each person to carry out synchronously the professional measures. The plan of specialized fighting is also elaborated and meticulously estimated, with situations that can be expected with measures for solving problems in an active manner that are not unexpected in every situations. The successful coordination of the specialists also shows the role of customs forces, the significance and importance of inter-agency coordination between Customs, Police and Border Protection.

According to the Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City, in order to fight against the new tricks of drug criminals, it is necessary to do the collection and processing of information well, as the basis for accurate establishment. In addition, the project plan must be specific, and flexibly predict situations for handling. The selection of civil servants in the specialized agency assisting the specialized task forces must sum up the situation from the report of the reconnaissance team and the working group in order to advise in time to work in the right direction and achieve effective results.

Thanks to the success of the 100 latest cocaine cake projects, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Customs Department said that it is necessary to step up the effective implementation of customs measures, focusing on the good work of collecting and analyzing information, basic investigation, the work of compilation and verification in order to promptly detect new methods and tricks of drug criminals so as to take the initiative in taking measures to fight and prevent them. At the same time, enhance, review the stages of the business process, and then detect loopholes that drug criminals can take advantage of. In addition, it should coordinate well with the functional forces in and outside the industry to fight and ensure the arrest of smugglers in the network.