Prevent the sale and transportation of firecrackers before Tet

	Drugs, firecrackers "hot" on the central border
	Cau Treo Customs coordinates to seize a passenger car transporting 100kg firecrackers
	Bat Xat Customs arrests about 168 kg of firecrackers

Firecrackers were seized by Team 4 - Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department (General Department of Customs) in coordination with the Police on October 18, 2023.

2 months of confiscating more than 10 tons of firecrackers

On November 24, 2023, Cu Chi District Police and Ho Chi Minh City Police prosecuted the case and prosecuted Ha Xuan Chau and Tran Kim Giau for the crime of "Transporting prohibited goods". According to the case file, Cu Chi District Police discovered that subject Ha Xuan Chau (born in 1986, residing in Tan Binh district, Ho Chi Minh City) colluded with the subject Tran Kim Giau (born in 1970, residing in Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City) transporting and trading banned goods such as firecrackers in large quantities from the Cambodian border (Vinh Hung district, Long An province) to Cu Chi district area. After that, the subjects distributed firecrackers under the direction of a subject in Cambodia (whose background is unknown) to contacts in Ho Chi Minh City, other provinces and cities through the cargo shipping service. Examining the residence and a number of related locations of the subjects, Cu Chi District Police confiscated more than 3 tons of various types of firecrackers and many other documents related to the case.

Previously, Ho Chi Minh City Police coordinated with Kien Giang Provincial Police and many provinces, cities to arrest a group of 13 people, confiscating a total of 6 tons of fireworks in preparation for consumption during the 2024 Lunar New Year. Specifically, on October 15, 2023, Ho Chi Minh City Police have decided to prosecute the case, prosecute the accused, temporarily detain Tang Quoc Tien (45 years old), Dang Duy Linh (31 years old), Danh Tich (33 years old, residing in Kien Giang province), Nguyen Dang Thanh (33 years old, living in Binh Tan district) and 9 other people to investigate the crime of trading, storing, and transporting prohibited goods.

Initial investigation results showed that groups of Tien, Linh and Tich colluded to transport and trade firecrackers from Kien Giang to Ho Chi Minh City for consumption and transshipment to other provinces, cities. To bypass the authorities, this group created a cover as a transportation service business unit. Firecrackers are disguised in styrofoam boxes containing dried fish, with recipient information pre-recorded. Goods are gathered and hidden at a coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City owned by Thanh and then delivered to retail outlets inside or outside Ho Chi Minh City through online shipping services.

Police determined that around August until the time of arrest, the gang led by Tien transported and sold nearly 6 tons of fireworks to the market in Ho Chi Minh City, the provinces of Ca Mau, Long An, Vinh Phuc and Ha Noi city.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Police, the recent situation of transporting and storing firecrackers is very alarming. Only from September 2023 until now, Ho Chi Minh City Police have arrested and prosecuted 15 subjects, confiscating nearly 10 tons of firecrackers of all kinds, this is the number of firecrackers the subjects were preparing to sell to the market during Lunar New Year 2024.

3 tons of illegal fireworks were seized by Ho Chi Minh City Police on November 18, 2023

Fireworks are smuggled mostly across the Southwest border

Through the seized cases of transporting and storing illegal fireworks in Ho Chi Minh City, it is shown that the main source of goods is brought to Ho Chi Minh City from a number of southwestern border provinces, such as: Long An, Kien Giang, etc of which the most prominent is the border area of Vinh Hung district (Long An). Previously, in the early morning of November 21, 2023, at the section of Provincial Road 831 in Vinh Binh commune, Vinh Hung district, Long An province, the Southern Special Force (Department of Drug and Crime Prevention, Border Guard ) chaired and coordinated with the Drug and Crime Prevention Department, Long Khot Border Guard Station, Border Guard Station of Binh Hiep International Border gate (Long An Provincial Border Guard) to organize the arrest of Dang Nguyen Hoang Khang ( born in 1999, residing at house number 1, Binh Tay hamlet, Tuyen Thanh commune, Kien Tuong town, Long An province) when this subject was transporting illegal fireworks.

Checking the vehicle, the authorities discovered that there were 54 cartons containing firecrackers, with 1,397 cartons containing fireworks and firecrackers; 96 tube fireworks and 178 kg of round firecrackers, etc, total weight 2.2 tons.

On the same day, when blocking at Binh Hiep intersection (Kien Tuong town), the working group of Kien Tuong Town Police and Border Guard Station of Binh Hiep International Border Gate inspected 16-seat cars carrying controlling plates Control 61D1-014.30 which moved from Vinh Hung to Binh Hiep commune, confiscated 768kg of firecrackers. Two subjects traveling in a car claimed to have bought the above fireworks from Cambodia to transport to Vietnam for consumption.

In addition to the Southwest border, many cases of smuggling large quantities of fireworks across the Northern border have also been promptly prevented by the authorities. 2 cases of transporting nearly 900 kg of smuggled fireworks disguised in water tanks were coordinated by the Anti-Smuggling, Counterfeit Goods and Intellectual Property Protection Team (Team 4), Anti-Smuggling Investigation Department (General Department of Customs), collaborating with Lang Son City Police to arrest in October 2023 is a typical example. Working with the working group, the driver confessed that he had bought the above fireworks in China and brought them to Bac Giang for consumption.

Identifying from now until the Lunar New Year, those who trade and transport firecrackers will take advantage of it to operate, the competent forces are implementing many solutions to effectively prevent it from the border to the inland. In particular, competent forces in border areas coordinate closely with agencies and units to proactively implement solutions to prevent trading and transport of smuggled goods, with a focus on firecrackers across the borders.

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