Peak period of anti-smuggling work on southwest border

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Tinh Bien border-gate customs officers (An Giang Customs Department) inspect smuggled goods. Photo: Thu Hoa

Commenting that at the end of the year, the smuggling and trade fraud situation will tend to increase, the Customs units in the southwest border provinces are carrying out the anti-smuggling plan in the peak period. In which, items at high risk of smuggling and trade fraud are sugar, cigarettes and products for Covid-19 prevention.

Facing the situation that the trader imports sugar in the rotation method on the An Giang border, the leaders of An Giang Customs Department has requested the customs units to strengthen C/O inspection and check C/O validity. In terms of import procedures for sugar products, branches have been required to ensure procedures and check the C/O validity. The border-gate customs branches should develop a set of physical inspection criteria.

Currently, in border areas, traders have a tendency of transporting and trading drugs in large amounts. The tricks are hiding drugs in vacuum sealed tea bags, backpacks, bags have been exposed through the current seizures by the competent forces.

Traders are planning to transport drugs by river or road vehicles; or hide them in other ordinary goods to pass through the border checkpoints, border crossings, at night or in the middle of the river.

Therefore, Customs units in the border provinces are taking strict inspection and control measures to prevent this dangerous crime. Recently, on November 26, An Giang Customs presided over and coordinated with the forces in the area to seize an illegal transport of more than 30kg of ketamine from Cambodia to Vietnam through Tinh Bien border gate.

“Dual" task

The anti-Covid-19 pandemic in the Cambodian border area is heating up when the country detected an infection community case. Therefore, unlike previous years, this year, in the anti-smuggling plan at the end of the year, border units have to perform the "dual" task of normal work and anti-pandemic work. Road border route, especially areas in An Giang border gates adjacent to Cambodia are at high risk. Therefore, the competent forces have maintained close coordination to control people and vehicles crossing the border. Along with that, the units have focused on combating smuggling and trade fraud for items such as masks, medical gloves, medical protective clothing and hand sanitizer to stabilize the price and quality of goods in the domestic market.

On the An Giang border route, facing the Covid-19 pandemic in Cambodia, following the direction of the Chairman of An Giang Provincial People's Committee and information collected by customs units, An Giang Customs Department has sent an urgent official dispatch to guide border gate customs branches and the Customs Enforcement Team to strengthen the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods for commodity groups for Covid-19 prevention and control such as medical masks and hand sanitizer.

Recently, on December 9, the Covid-19 pandemic working group No. 6 under Long Binh Border Guard Station patrolled Cay Me wharf area in An Hoa hamlet, Khanh An commune, An Phu district, An Giang province and detained four suspects for the act of illegally entering Vietnam from Cambodia.

The suspects claimed that they were taken on a motorboat from Cambodia to Vietnam by a man at a cost of US$270-300/person. When entering Vietnam, the suspects were hiding in a house near the river, they were detected and arrested. Earlier, at about 23:30 on December 5, the Covid-19 pandemic working group No. 12 under Long Binh Border Guard Station, also discovered three men illegally entering Vietnam from Cambodia on a boat in the border area of ​​Tan Khanh hamlet, Long Binh town, An Phu district, An Giang province. The working group brought these men to Long Binh Border Guard Station for questioning.

On the Dong Thap border route, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 from the first quarter of 2020, the competent forces intensified patrols and strictly controlled the border. Therefore, smuggling activities on the Dong Thap border have decreased compared to the previous period.

In addition to maintaining import-export activities through the two international border gates of Thuong Phuoc and Dinh Ba, Dong Thap Customs Department has performed its dual task of anti-pandemic work and anti-smuggling and anti-trade fraud.

According to Dong Thap Province’s Steering Committee 389, at the Cambodian border area adjacent to Dong Thap province, illegal entry by waterway is a problem, especially the Tien River area in Thuong Phuoc 1 commune, Hong Ngu district.

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Accordingly, the forces at the border gate have strengthened the coordination to organize patrols to prevent illegal exit and entry across the border, and violations of the Covid-19 pandemic prevention. In the past two months, at the Tien River border area, the Border Guard discovered and prevented illegal entry of more than 100 people. The Border Guard also worked closely with the police and customs forces at the border area to enhance forces at border checkpoints.