Officials of Ky Ha Port Customs Sub-department inspect imported goods. Photo: T.H

"Hot" prohibited goods through border gates

Along with the work of facilitating trade for businesses and passengers entering and exiting the country, the Sub-departmentes under the Quang Nam Customs Department also pay special attention to the work of inspecting and controlling against smuggling.

According to the assessment of leaders of Nam Giang Border Gate Customs Sub-department (Quang Nam Customs Department), the situation of smuggling, trade fraud and illegal transportation of goods and drugs across the border in the management area has become complicated, the methods and tricks are increasingly sophisticated, connecting many domestic and foreign subjects, posing a potential risk of subjects taking advantage of the openness in import and export activities, entry and exit of means of transport, transit, etc in the area.

Recognizing the situation, from the beginning of the year, Nam Giang Border Gate Customs Sub-department has developed a plan to deploy patrolling and controlling, collecting information in preventing and combating smuggling and illegal transportation of goods across the border; plan to collect and process customs control information, etc and has coordinated to detect many violations.

As of December 15, 2024, Quang Nam Customs Department collected 7,138 billion VND for the state budget, an increase of more than 31% over the same period in 2023, and refunded nearly 2,439 billion VND, resulting in actual state budget revenue of 4,699 billion VND, an increase of 56% over the same period, reaching more than 134% of the assigned target (3,500 billion VND).

Typically, on May 26, 2024, at Nam Giang International Border Gate Joint Control Station, during the process of handling entry procedures for passengers, vehicle drivers and temporary import procedures for a 15-seat Toyota tourist car with a Lao license plate, Nam Giang Border Gate Customs Sub-Department, the Central Region Anti-Smuggling Control Team - Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department (General Department of Customs), Nam Giang International Border Gate Border Station under Nam Giang International Border Gate Border Guard Station inspected the vehicle and discovered many packages suspected to be drugs hidden on the ceiling of the car.

All subjects, vehicles and exhibits were brought to the headquarter of Nam Giang International Border Gate Border Guard Station for inspection. The results of the discovery were 180 packages of various synthetic drugs (about 180 kg), 44 cakes suspected to be heroin (about 16.25 kg), 4 packages of tablets (about 1.75 kg), with a total weight of 198 kg.

Through discussion, Quang Nam Provincial Border Guard Command said that the above case is part of a special project chaired by the Department of Drug and Crime Prevention - Border Guard Command, and is being continued to fight.

In particular, in recent times, the amount of goods in transit from Laos to Vietnam has increased dramatically, with an average of over 300 tractor-trailers carrying ore entering the country every day. Facing with this situation, the unit has strengthened control solutions and initially detected violations.

In November 2024, the Working Group of Nam Giang International Border Guard Station presided over and coordinated with Nam Giang Border Guard Station and La Dee Commune Police to inspect a tractor-trailer with license plate 29H-85036 pulling a trailer with license plate 29R-50818 entering Vietnam from Laos and discovered that the vehicle was illegally transporting 24.7 kg of various types of fireworks. Through investigation, the driver confessed that he was transporting the above fireworks from Laos to Vietnam for sale.

In addition, Nam Giang Border Guard Station also coordinated with Nam Giang International Border Guard Station to arrest a case of illegally transporting a dead pangolin weighing 2.28 kg across the border; 2 cases of transporting prohibited goods, evidence seized over 32.5 kg of fireworks.

Regarding the illegal fireworks, previously, during the process of monitoring transit goods at Chu Lai port, officials of Chu Lai Port Operations Team under Ky Ha Port Customs Sub-department discovered a trailer with license plate 92R00468 driven by Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuan transporting 3 nylon bags containing 30 boxes suspected to be fireworks, total weight 48 kg without customs declaration. The subject and the evidence of the violation were handed over to Nui Thanh District Police for further investigation.

Focus on preventing loss of state budget revenue

With the characteristics of a large management area, spread from the land border to seaports, industrial zones, clusters, bonded warehouses, export processing enterprises, etc., the work of fighting smuggling and trade fraud always poses many challenges for Quang Nam Customs Department in the context of a small force.

Therefore, the work of fighting against violations has always been of interest to the leaders of Quang Nam Customs Department, focusing on leadership, direction, and arrangement of forces to perform well, with focus and key points. As of December 15, 2024, the entire Department has carried out 180/110 patrols, reaching 163.63% of the assigned target; completed 100% of the investigation and research records to grasp the situation; detected and arrested 5 cases of illegal transportation of goods.

Recently, Nam Giang International Border Gate Customs Sub-department has been interested in equipping baggage scanners at the international border gate by the General Department of Customs to ensure professional customs supervision and management, both facilitating quick clearance of baggage for passengers entering and exiting the country; and contributing to improving the effectiveness of preventing and combating violations of customs laws, etc.

In addition to facilitating customs clearance, Quang Nam Customs Department focuses on post-clearance inspection.

Accordingly, specialized units develop plans and collect information focusing on risk topics and some suspicious activities, such as: the use of machinery, equipment, fixed assets of investment projects enjoying tax incentives; goods with two tax rates, origin topics, etc; Sub-departments of customs shall strengthen the work of post-clearance inspection, focus on reviewing records, identifying key enterprises and key goods through the sector database, information provided by other units, especially the work of collecting information from the VNACCS/VCIS System.

Pay attention to the Green channel customs declarations on the system, imported and exported goods with high tax rates, large turnover, high risk of incorrect declaration of codes, tax rates, cases with signs of incorrect declaration of taxable value, etc.

Through the collected information, the Department has issued 12 decisions on post-clearance inspection at the headquarters of customs declarants, increasing revenue for the State budget by nearly 4 billion VND, exceeding the planned target by more than 20%.