Synthetic drugs seized by Hanoi Customs and Hanoi Police in January, 2023. Photo: Ngoc Linh

The General Department of Customs said January falls on the Lunar New Year of the Cat, thus the smuggling and illegal cross-border transportation of goods, trade fraud, illicit trade as well as drug trafficking developed complicatedly via air, express service and road with many sophisticated tricks and methods to evade the control of State authorities

To grasp information and the actual situation in local areas to have timely guidance, the General Department of Customs strengthened warnings, instructions and inspections to the anti-smuggling force to fight drug smuggling.

Notably, the General Department of Customs requested central and local customs units to step up measures to combat smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods at the border, airports, sea areas and inland areas.

In addition, the General Department of Customs continued to promote its role as an advisory agency for the Standing Agency of National Steering Committee 389 and Steering Committee 389 of the Ministry of Finance in building action plans and programs as well as giving warnings in the fight against smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit and poor-quality goods, drugs and crimes.

Also, the General Department of Customs focused on carrying out Plan No. 92/KH-BCD dated September 13, 2022, strengthening combat against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods at the border lines, sea areas and inland areas; Plan No. 111/KH-BCD 389 dated November 22, 2022, on strengthening the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and illegal transportation of goods through international airports; Peak Plan on the fight against smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeits, and illegal cross-border transportation of goods before, during and after the Lunar New Year 2023.

Accordingly, the General Department concertized and implemented the plans and programs in key areas to warn and guide local authorities about anti-smuggling; regularly updated warnings about new kinds of drugs, new tricks and methods of drug traffickers.

Therefore, the General Department effectively handled complicated cases of smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeits; determined roles, coordination of agencies, authorities and localities in the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeits.

Further, the Customs authority regularly exchanges, coordinates and shares information with authorities of bordering countries and international organizations to handle subjects committing acts of smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeiting in Vietnam’s territory.

As a result, in January 2023 (from December 12, 2022-January 15, 2023), the customs sector handled 546 cases with a total value of infringing goods of VND196 billion and remitted to the State budget VND14.5 billion. Especially, the customs authority took two cases to court and transferred three cases to other authorities.