The journey to destroy a 'huge' luxury car smuggling ring with a boss from Nghe An

"Huge" sophisticated operation line

Tran Quang Dong, the ringleader, was arrested.

Previously, in November 2018, Ha Tinh Provincial Police received information about a ring making, buying, selling, using fake documents and smuggling cars from Laos to Vietnam on a large scale through social networking sites such as Facebook, Zalo, Wechat...

Through investigation and research, the modus operandi of the subjects forming the network has connections with many subjects in many provinces and cities in the country.

The purpose of these subjects is to legalize smuggled cars, cars of unknown origin, and to use fake papers and documents for mortgage and fraud purposes.

“Considering the sophisticated behavior of the subjects, the wide range of subjects, causing particularly serious consequences, it is necessary to establish a special project to eradicate them soon. After a meeting, a special project with code TV12.18 dated December 5, 2018 was established for investigation by Colonel Dang Hoai Son - Deputy Director of the Provincial Police, Head of the Investigation Police Agency, as the head of the special project,” said a leader of the Ha Tinh Provincial Police.

During the investigation and case solving process, the detective force encountered many difficulties in identifying and clarifying the links in the chain because the subjects used fake contacts, phone numbers, and bank account numbers. The transaction method was very sophisticated, aiming to erase traces and conceal the crime.

In particular, the subjects mainly transact on cyberspace, after agreeing to buy and sell, they transfer money through accounts with fake names, through many intermediaries.

After nearly 4 months of "tasting honey and lying on thorns" with perseverance, applying many professional measures, under the direction of the Provincial Police Department and the coordination of professional units, the task force has initially identified 3 ringleaders of the ring including: Tran Quang Dong (born in 1991, residing in Long An, Long Thanh, Dong Nai); Trinh Sy Hung (born in 1993, residing in Son Kim 1 commune, Huong Son district, Ha Tinh); Dinh Thi Van (born in 1968, residing in Hung Binh ward, Vinh city).

Take the net!

On March 21, 2019, with the approval of Colonel Vo Trong Hai - Director of Ha Tinh Provincial Police, the task force decided to "take the bait". Experienced reconnaissance teams were sent to various locations, simultaneously arresting and urgently searching the above-mentioned ringleaders.

Searching the houses of these 3 subjects, the authorities seized 26 luxury cars worth more than 40 billion VND; more than 200 fake car and motorbike license plates; 1 set of tools specializing in license plate production, nearly 400 blank samples, and seals of competent agencies and organizations...

“The investigation and identification process was difficult, but the arrest was even more difficult. Many subjects acted rashly, obstructed, put pressure, and fought back fiercely,” said a detective involved in the case.

Initially, the subject Tran Quang Dong confessed that at the end of 2018, he knew that many people needed to make fake documents related to cars and banks, so he went online to learn how to make fake documents to resell. Dong bought tools to make inspection stamps, bank mortgage certificates, registration certificates... to legalize smuggled cars and stolen motorbikes.

Tran Quang Dong's accomplices in the ring were arrested.

During the process of forging documents, Dong met and colluded with Van and Hung to smuggle cars together to enjoy high profit margins. Dong sold each set of fake documents for 2.5 to 3 million VND. If a smuggled car was successfully sold, this group could earn hundreds of millions of VND.

Expanding the investigation, Ha Tinh Provincial Police arrested 7 more subjects in the ring.

Up to now, Ha Tinh Provincial Police have prosecuted Tran Quang Dong, Trinh Sy Hung, Dinh Thi Van and 7 other subjects for the crime of "Forging seals and documents of agencies and organizations, using fake seals and documents of agencies and organizations and smuggling, according to Articles 341 and 188 of the 2015 Penal Code.

Colonel Vo Trong Hai - Director of Ha Tinh Police said: "Because the case involves many provinces and many terrains, the process of solving the case encountered many difficulties. Many comrades were away from home for a whole month, to follow each link in the case. The subjects always changed their residence, and when discovered, they fought back fiercely."

The Director of Ha Tinh Provincial Police also added that the investigation process was safe, but this was only the first phase of the case.