A large backlog of scrap containers at the Cat Lai port in HCM City as several enterprises who were supposed to receive the shipment failed to show up, causing concerns that ports would become junkyard (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - A number oflarge-scale smuggling cases employing sophisticated methods have recentlychallenged the country’s customs agency.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs saidthat it seized four imported containers consisting of new automotive parts butwere labelled as containing scrap.
The owner of the containers was named as PoscoSS Vina Co Ltd, located at the Phu My 2 Industrial Park in the southernprovince of Ba Ria – Vung Tau, the Kinh te do thi (Economicand Urban Affairs) newspaper reported.
The company began customs declaration procedureson September 14 to import the goods at Cai Mep International Port’s CustomsDivision. Under the declaration, the goods were detailed as scrap in 5containers, with a total weight of over 122 tonnes. The containers weretransported from Australia to Vietnam on September 11. The goods were boughtvia Stamcorp International PTE.LTD.
However, the customs division checked and foundnew automotive parts hidden in three containers.
The company opened another customs declarationon September 26 to import an additional 10 scrap containers via StamcorpInternational PTE.LTD. The customs division found one other containerconsisting of new automotive parts.
The division decided to seize the fourcontainers and hold the new automotive parts for investigation.
Another smuggling case was uncovered by Noi BaiInternational Airport’s Customs Division, in which 1,157 iPhones, includingiPhone Xs Max and iPhone Xs, were smuggled via the airport in late September.
The owner of the smartphones was identified asVAK Co Ltd, located in Nguyen Trai street, Hanoi’s Thanh Xuan district.
According to the investigation, the goods werewrapped in 40 packages and the company did not declare the shipment at customs.After the case was reported by local media, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binhordered relevant agencies to quickly investigate.
Data from the General Department of VietnamCustoms showed that it had dealt with 12,069 violations in the first ninemonths of this year, contributing more than 240 billion VND (10.3 million USD)of fines to the State budget.
Head of the department Nguyen Van Can saiddiverse activities of importing and exporting goods in every locality acrossthe country led to a risk that violations could occur in many areas.
The goods were not only smuggled goods but alsogoods that could harm community safety and violate intellectual propertyrights, he said.
Can added that the department had already takena series of measures to curb the situation. The measures included applyinginformation technology as well as installing modern equipment to better managegoods imported or exported via sea ports or border gates.
The department also directed its units toclosely keep track of the nation’s crime trends and make prompt analysis toprevent smuggling cases, he said.
It tasked the units to mainly focus onprohibited goods such as ivory, pangolin scales and drugs.
Head of the department’s Anti-SmugglingInvestigation Department Nguyen Phi Hung said the department had attempted todiscover and deal with large-scale smuggling cases.
For example, in late 2017, the departmentuncovered over 200 containers were missing after being transported from HCMCity’s Cat Lai Port to Cambodia in the middle of 2015.
The containers were found to not have beenexported to Cambodia as scheduled in the customs declaration. They wereactually transported to Vietnamese localities for consumption. Some customsstaff were allegedly involved in the case. The agency sent the case to theMinistry of Public Security for further investigation.-VNA
VNA
