Authorities check intercepted cigarette packs smuggled through the border in the southern province of An Giang.(Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - In the first six months of 2017,authorities uncovered 88,560 cases of smuggling, prosecuting 1,100 casesinvolving 1,372 people.
Authorities collected 7.9 trillion VND (347.5 million USD)from administrative fines, selling off confiscated smuggled goods, and taxarrears, 40 percent more than the previous year’s first half.
According to National Steering Committee 389, the majorityof smuggled goods fall into categories of essential consumer goods, heavilytaxed goods, or goods banned for import, such as cocaine, explosives, tobacco,cosmetics, petrol and gas, elephant tusks or rhino horns, among others.
Some notable cases include an interception of 7,800 foreigncigarette packs in the southern province of Long An, or confiscation of 26kgrhino horns and 6kg of elephant tusks in Hanoi, and apprehension of 20 shipsillegally transporting 3.5 million litres of gas.
The information was released last week at a steering committeemeeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh.
The steering committee noted that smuggling continuesunabated despite heightened efforts to stem it, especially in border areas,where criminals take advantage of hard-to-access locations and transporting thegoods on hidden trails or along small streams sheltered by thick forest.
On the maritime front, smuggling of petrol and gas has beenon the rise, the committee said, since Vietnam’s current gas price is higherthan in some other countries in the region. The criminals’ favoured modusoperandi is using foreign ships to transport oil and gas to Vietnam’smaritime borders and then splitting the stock among different Vietnamesefishing boats.
The Deputy PM said strict legislation must be adopted to“remove or reassign leaders showing signs of aiding and abetting smuggling,counterfeit products and trade fraud.”
He added that anti-smuggling efforts are “an important andpermanent political duty to be carried out by all levels of the government,”and that there will be no “zero tolerance” in this matter.
The Deputy PM also said that attention must be focused ontransnational criminal groups to protect domestic production.
“Culprits order goods from China, bring them back into thecountry, slap ‘Made in Vietnam’ labels on them and sell them to unsuspectingcustomers,” according to Le Hong Son, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committeeand member of the Steering Committee 389.
He said previously, the counterfeit products were usually ofluxury brands, however the range is now increasingly diverse, from sweets andlightbulbs to clothes.-VNA
VNA
