Customs officer of Ha Tien border gate control vehicles through the border gate Photo: Đ.N

Smuggled cigarettes on the mainland

In May 2022, Kien Giang province's forces seized 6,500 packages of smuggled cigarettes of all kinds, bringing the total number of smuggled cigarettes from the beginning of the year to now in Kien Giang province to over 50,000 packages

In particular, after a period of "taking no action" due to the operation of many anti-pandemic and anti-smuggling checkpoints on the border, they have begun to show signs of being active again. On the evening of April 16, on Giang Thanh border, the Border Defence forces discovered three people carrying three sacks, holding electric whips and long-handled knives, with signs of transporting smuggled cigarettes across the border, so they deployed to arrest.

When detecting the anti-smuggling force, these people threw back three sacks and used electric whips and long-handled knives to fight fiercely in order to open a way to escape to the other border. The number of exhibits left behind was 1,400 packs of foreign cigarettes of all kinds. A few hours earlier, on the same day, in this border district of Giang Thanh, the Giang Thanh Border Station seized 1,400 packs of foreign cigarettes near canal 79 of Tan Khanh Hoa commune, Giang Thanh district, Kien Giang province.

As well as at Giang Thanh border, on the border lines of Ha Tien, smugglers also took advantage to bring goods across the border. They illegally transported any goods to gain profit, from cigarettes, sugar and milk to mosquito incense and pesticides.

They used the technique of dividing goods into small packages, taking advantage of the location to transport contrabands. For example, in the seizure case of more than 7,000 bottles of Ensure milk in March by Customs Enforcement Team (Kien Giang Customs Department), smugglers hired daily wage earners to divide goods into small packages for gathering and hiding. When the quantity is enough, they would use trucks to transport goods inland for consumption.

Most daily wage earners are local people who are unemployed, so they consider the transportation of smuggled goods across the border as their main job, making their arrest by competent forces very difficult. Smuggled goods are like an underground flow across the Kien Giang border. The seizures have only solved the surface of this flow, and the masterminds and leaders are rarely caught. The fight against smuggling and illegal transportation of goods across the border is only really effective when border residents are willing to cooperate with competent forces to prevent and arrest smugglers.

Smuggled gasoline under the sea

As for the Kien Giang sea border, the situation of petroleum smuggling continues to be complex. Since the beginning of the year, Kien Giang province's competent forces have discovered and seized more than 560,000 liters of D.O oil in Kien Giang waters.

At the end of April 2022, while patrolling and controlling in the waters of Kien Giang, the anti-smuggling working group of Kien Giang Border Defence force discovered ship No. KG 92976 TS, owned by Nguyen Ngoc Hai (born in 1964and residing in My Tho, Tien Giang) as the captain showed suspicious signs, so an inspection was carried out. During the inspection, the force found that the ship contained about 20,000 liters of DO oil. Captain Nguyen Ngoc Hai failed to present invoices and documents proving their lawful origin.

According to the assessment of the competent forces, the current anti-smuggling work against smuggled petroleum in Kien Giang waters is still difficult because it the leader and mastermind are at large. The delivery and receipt of petroleum all takes place at sea, operating in a closed manner, and the masterminds control trading and delivery activities through the captain and crew members on the ship.

The fishermen involved in smuggling use fish hatches and ice tanks in the ship's compartment to store petrol and oil, covered with camouflage fishing nets. The subjects often conduct trading, delivery and receipt of petroleum in bad weather; frequently changing ship numbers and using fake traffic documents in order to cause difficulties in arresting. Traders who use mobile phones often use "junk" sim cards to transact, so when the authorities arrest them, it is very difficult to identify the owner of the goods, prove the illegal elements and handle the case.