Smuggled goods seized by customs authorities

Following Official Dispatch 38-CD/TTg dated May 5, 2026 issued by the Prime Minister on strengthening efforts to combat, prevent, and handle intellectual property rights violations, along with specialized plans from the Customs Department, anti-smuggling forces have recently accelerated inspections of suspicious shipments at Cat Lai Port.

As a result, Anti-Smuggling Control Team No. 3 under the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Subdepartment, in coordination with Sai Gon Port Border Gate Customs Branch Area 1 and related units, has uncovered several large-scale violations in recent inspections.

The cases show that smuggling, trade fraud, and intellectual property rights violations are becoming increasingly sophisticated, creating greater pressure for tighter control at key border gates.

More than 14,500 expired cosmetics blocked from entering the market

One notable case involved an imported cosmetics shipment from H.G Import Export Trading Service Co., Ltd. under the A11 category for consumer goods imports. According to customs declarations, the company imported Dr Wonjin Hyal-8 Toner 750ml moisturizing toner under the Dr Wonjin brand from South Korea, declared as 100 percent new goods and shipped from Hong Kong to Cat Lai Port.

However, during a physical inspection on April 24, 2026, customs authorities found that the entire shipment of 14,550 cosmetic bottles had expired nearly one year earlier. Information printed on the packaging and carton boxes showed the products expired on August 16, 2025.

The timely detection and seizure of the shipment before it reached the market is considered important for protecting consumer health, especially as Vietnam’s imported cosmetics market continues growing strongly while also facing risks from low quality and expired products entering circulation.

According to authorities, many businesses are exploiting consumer goods import activities to bring substandard products into the domestic market, particularly cosmetics, dietary supplements, and other high demand consumer goods.

Counterfeit branded goods found in consecutive import and transit shipments

Beyond expired cosmetics, the customs authorities also uncovered large numbers of intellectual property rights violations.

Through inspection measures, customs forces identified suspicious signs in a shipment of imported door locks belonging to HP Trading Import Export Co., Ltd. Physical inspections showed that besides properly declared products, the company also possessed five undeclared categories totaling 15,790 lock products that had not been reported to customs authorities.

Notably, among these were 1,440 Solex branded lock products suspected of infringing a protected trademark. Assessment results issued on April 10, 2026 by the National Institute of Intellectual Property confirmed that all products were counterfeit Solex branded goods in violation of intellectual property regulations.

Subsequently, on April 23, 2026, the customs authorities uncovered more than 3,000 counterfeit branded products in a transit shipment from Cat Lai Port to Cambodia belonging to LS Co., Ltd.

The violating goods included 450 Mikasa FT-5 soccer balls and 560 Mikasa MG MV200 volleyballs made in China. The authorized representative of Mikasa Corporation in Vietnam confirmed that the entire shipment consisted of counterfeit “Mikasa” branded goods.

In addition, authorities also discovered 90 Spider-Man role-play toy sets, 780 Spider-Man themed children’s soccer balls, and 700 Avengers racing toy sets without origin information. The authorized representative of Marvel Characters, Inc. in Vietnam confirmed these products infringed the “Spider-Man” and “Avengers” trademarks.

For assembly toy products, customs authorities also uncovered 260 Lego Ninjago sets and 300 Ninjago 126-piece building block sets suspected of trademark infringement. Based on initial exchanges, the authorized rights representative in Vietnam confirmed all 560 products were counterfeit Lego Ninjago goods.

According to authorities, the presence of counterfeit and intellectual property infringing goods in both imported and transit shipments shows that violators are exploiting logistics and international transshipment activities to conceal violations.

As Vietnam becomes more deeply integrated into global trade chains, pressure to control counterfeit goods, trade fraud, and intellectual property violations at major ports such as Cat Lai continues to rise. This affects not only the healthy business environment, but also market credibility and consumer rights. Anti-Smuggling Control Team No. 3 under the Anti-Smuggling Investigation Subdepartment is continuing to coordinate with relevant units to verify and handle the cases in accordance with legal regulations.