Smuggled cigarettes seized by Dong Thap Customs. Photo: T.H

Pretending to be tourists

According to Dong Thap Customs Department, due to the price difference between the two countries, foreign cigarettes and sugar are still transported by smugglers across Dong Thap Border Gate. The smugglers have used sophisticated transportation tricks, such as; pretending to be tourists or shippers to transport smuggled goods.

In the end of June 2022, the Customs Enforcement Team under Dong Thap Customs Department coordinated with An Binh A Ward Police to patrol at An Thinh area, and detected a man transporting a suitcase by motorbike from the border area which raised their suspicions, so the team stopped the man for inspection.

When detecting the competent force, the suspect left the suitcase on the street and escaped. The working team found 1,210 packages of smuggled foreign cigarettes (520 JET cigarette packs, 690 HERO cigarettes packs).

The working team seized a ZX Wave motorbike without a license plate and 1,400 packages of foreign cigarettes in An Phuoc area, An Binh A ward, Hong Ngu city. The cigarettes were transported by a suspect from the border to the area. When detecting the authorities team, the suspect left the goods and motorbike to escape.

In addition, smugglers have pretended to be shippers in an attempt to outsmart the authorities.

At the end of June, the local police discovered Huynh Van Hau, 35, residing in Thanh Binh, who pretended to be a shipper to hide 800 packs of Hero cigarettes. The suspect pasted the delivery note outside goods packs with a QR code and the recipient's address.

According to the police, this is the new method of smugglers to transport goods and outsmart the detection by competent authority.

Shifting the contraband transportation

According to Dong Thap Police, due to the strict control in Dong Thap Border Gate, some smugglers have shifted their transportation route. They have shipped banned goods from other provinces to Dong Thap for consumption.

The smugglers have transported banned goods from Tan Thanh, Long An province to Thanh Binh, Dong Thap province. They stashed the goods in packages, ice buckets, and plastic cans to Tam Nong and Thanh Binh districts and disguised themselves as shippers or farmers to avoid detection by the authorities.

Recently, the local competent authorities detected Huynh Van Cua, who transported over 500 packs of foreign cigarettes and hid them inside the trunk of the car, in a 20-liter oil can and in a bucket of iced water.

The local customs department said that the smuggled goods were transported across the sea border by motorboat. The smugglers quickly transported the goods by motorbike to the inland. The goods are then shipped by motorbikes, passenger cars, and small trucks on the land route.

The smugglers have transported sugar and foreign cigarettes by motorbikes at high speed from the border to Hong Ngu city. Before and during the transportation of contraband, the suspects assigned other smugglers to closely follow the anti-smuggling forces and fight against the forces when being arrested.

Dong Thap Police and Customs forces have detected and prevented dozens of cases of smuggling, transporting and storing smuggled cigarettes in the first half of the year. The police arrested and handled 111 cases of transporting banned and smuggled goods and 25 suspects, seized infringing goods with an estimated value of about VND1.2 billion. The Customs force detected more than 50 violations, with the value of infringing goods being put at about VND2 billion.