Le Xuan Thanh (R) is held at a police station in Da Nang for
smuggling in foreigners in disguise of experts, May 15, 2021.
Photo by VnExpress/Khanh Than. 

Da Nang police have arrested two more members of a ring that smuggled foreigners into Vietnam under the guise of 'foreign experts.' 

Le Xuan Thanh, 37, and To My Hong Anh, 32, have been placed under criminal investigation for organizing illegal entry into Vietnam in the guise of foreign experts, police said.

Following their arrest, their houses were searched Saturday.

Thanh is the director of two companies, Phi Anh Pro Co., Ltd. and Patour Trading and Services Co., Ltd., with offices located in an apartment building in the central city.

From January to March this year, Thanh colluded with the owner of a South Korean company based in Da Nang to use the legal status of his two companies to sponsor seven South Koreans to enter Vietnam as foreign experts or investors.

Initial investigations show that the seven foreigners were neither experts nor investors, nor included in the list of priority for entry during the Covid-19 pandemic.

After completing their quarantine periods in Da Nang, they did not work for the companies that had sponsored them. They worked for other firms instead.

Thanh and the Korean business owner shared the money that the group of South Koreans gave, investigators said.

Anh, an employee of the South Korean company, acted as a 'bridge' between his company and Thanh and Nguyen Tran Anh Tuan, who was arrested last week to investigate allegations he received $2,400 to bring 14 South Koreans into Vietnam as foreign experts.

The investigation is being expanded, police said.

On May 9, Da Nang authorities launched a criminal investigation into the ring that brought foreigners into Vietnam illegally under the cover of experts. The probe began after local police detected two cases where 20 foreigners entered the country under 'expert visas' but do not know their guarantors’ businesses.

Vietnam closed its borders and canceled all international commercial flights on March 25, 2020 and has since only allowed Vietnamese repatriates and foreign experts, diplomats, investors and highly-skilled workers along with their parents, spouses and children to enter with stringent conditions related to Covid-19 testing and quarantine.

The nation has been grappling with its latest Covid-19 wave since April 27, under which 1,086 community transmissions were confirmed as of Sunday afternoon.