The case of smuggling more than 60,000 medicines was seized by Dong Thap Customs. Photo: M.T

The price difference between cigarettes and medicines is high

According to Dong Thap Customs Department, competent forces at the border have strictly controlled people and goods to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, so the price difference between Vietnam and Cambodia is high for some items. At that time, smugglers took advantage of the night to transport goods from the Cambodian border to gather in the inner city of Hong Ngu and then try to transport them to Ho Chi Minh City for sale.

On November 1, 2021, the Customs Enforcement Team in collaboration with the Tan Hoi Commune Police and Binh Thanh Border Guard Station controlled the border route. The competent forces detected and seized over 61,000 smuggled medicines of all kinds. These medicines were left behind by a man driving a motorbike from the border towards Hong Ngu City when he discovered the working group.

Besides medicines, recently, many cases of illegal transportation of cigarettes from Cambodia to Vietnam have been detected and handled by Dong Thap Customs Department in coordination with competent forces. Since the end of October 2021, So Thuong Customs Technical Team of Thuong Phuoc Customs Branch chaired and coordinated with the Police and Border Defence forces to handle six cases of illegal transport of goods and seize nearly 5,500 packs of foreign cigarettes.

On October 30, at Binh Hoa Trung Hamlet, Thuong Thoi Hau A Commune, Hong Ngu District, Dong Thap Province, the So Thuong Customs Technical Team under the Thuong Phuoc Customs Branch coordinated with Thuong Thoi Hau A commune Police to seize 1,000 packs of smuggled cigarettes and nearly 600kg of smuggled granulated sugar.

Besides the cases handled by Dong Thap Customs Department, recently, the anti-smuggling force under the Steering Committee 389 Dong Thap also detected and handled many cases of transporting smuggled cigarettes through the trail area, outside the management area of Customs authority.

Strict border control at the end of the year

Despite having to work in difficult conditions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially at border gate units, Dong Thap Customs Department has made efforts to both fight the pandemic and effectively perform professional tasks. In particular, the fight against smuggling and illegal transport of goods across the border has been effectively implemented. Since the beginning of 2021, Dong Thap Customs Department has detected and made a record of 89 cases of violations of the Law on Customs, the exhibits are mainly foreign cigarettes, crystallized sugar, and medicines.

Most of the above cases are abandoned articles, who took advantage of the night to transport goods from the Cambodian border inland. However, they would leave the goods behind and run away when they discovered the competent force.

It is forecast that when the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in Dong Thap is under control, the province implements pandemic prevention and control appropriate with the new situation, especially Covid-19 pandemic checkpoints in the province are removed. Therefore, smugglers who illegally transport goods across the border will find ways to operate again, especially in the peak months at the end of the year.

According to Director of Dong Thap Customs Department Nguyen Thanh Toan, identifying and forecasting the situation, Dong Thap Customs Department is continuing to implement solutions to control and prevent smuggling activities in the last months of the year.

Accordingly, the units have strictly implemented the plans and directions of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the Provincial Steering Committee 389 and the direction of the Department on anti-smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit and banned goods, especially drugs, foreign tobacco, aquatic products, livestock and products from aquatic products, livestock.

In particular, customs officers that are assigned the task of performing customs control must have awareness, be positive, enthusiastic, not afraid of difficulties in implementation; absolutely no collusion, smuggling protection for any reason. Leaders of units must assign specific targets; strengthen the implementation of monitoring, urging and inspection in performance in order to strive to achieve the highest results.