Revealing a special case to destroy a ring that traded nearly half a ton of fireworks across the border

(Baonghean.vn) - Nguyen Ba Thin hid fireworks in scrap barrels, gasoline tanks and even tires to camouflage and hide from authorities during transportation to bring them back to the country for consumption.

Through professional work, around the end of December 2016, the Environmental Police Department of Nghe An Police discovered signs of a ring specializing in buying and selling various types of fireworks from abroad to Vietnam. The subjects took advantage of the trade between Vietnam and Laos to mix fireworks into goods brought into the country for consumption. The Environmental Police Department reported to the superiors to establish Project 126P to fight.

Nguyen Ba Thin hid fireworks in the gas tank on the side of the truck. (Photo: Anh Tuan)

After a period of monitoring and understanding the situation, at around 10:00 a.m. on December 31, 2016, through sources, the detectives identified information that a subject was preparing to transport fireworks from Laos to Vietnam by truck. The task force quickly sent officers to verify and obtain accurate information about the suspect.

At 10:30 p.m. the same day, after the truck with license plate UN 0876 passed through Cau Treo border gate and moved deep inland, reaching Nam Dan district, realizing that it was a good time to solve the case, the working group coordinated with the Traffic Police force of Team 46, Nghe An Provincial Traffic Police Department to stop the truck and the suspect.

The authorities discovered a large quantity of scrap metal on the truck. In addition, there were a number of other items including colorful cardboard boxes hidden around. Driver Nguyen Ba Thin declared that the cardboard boxes were fireworks. The task force took the truck and the suspect to the headquarters to continue the investigation.

At the police station, after searching the entire vehicle, the police discovered a large quantity of various types of fireworks hidden in barrels, then placed at the bottom of the vehicle and piled with scrap on top. More sophisticatedly, the subject also pried open the spare tire of the car and stuffed it full of boxes of fireworks. Not stopping there, even the gas tank on the side of the truck was packed with fireworks.

The subject also pried off the spare tire of the car and stuffed it full of firecracker boxes. (Photo: Anh Tuan)

The number of fireworks that the authorities discovered that the subject had hidden in the car when counting and weighing amounted to 259 boxes of various types of fireworks, with a total weight of nearly 500kg.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huy Quan - Team Leader of Team 4 (PC49) said: Previously, with fireworks, the unit discovered many sophisticated fireworks transportation cases, but this is the first time we have encountered a case where a subject used both spare tires and homemade spare gasoline tanks to illegally hide various types of fireworks.

It is known that Nguyen Ba Thin, born in 1989, residing in Thanh Phong commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province, is a long-distance truck driver from Vietnam to Laos. During the investigation, the subject confessed that due to his time living and working in Laos, he realized the difference in prices of various types of fireworks in Vietnam and Laos, and that buying and selling these items between the two countries could yield maximum profits. Moreover, he had the means of transportation and was familiar with the trading methods between the people of the two countries, so Nguyen Ba Thin decided to buy a large quantity of fireworks from Laos to bring back to Vietnam to sell for profit.

On December 24, 2016, Nguyen Ba Thin transported a truckload of construction materials from Vietnam to Laos to deliver to a customer. However, after delivering the goods, Nguyen Ba Thin did not return to Vietnam immediately but instead sought to connect with people in Laos to buy fireworks. After finding a source and buying fireworks, Nguyen Ba Thin hid the fireworks himself in scrap barrels, gasoline tanks, and even tires to camouflage and hide them from authorities during the transportation process and bring them back to Vietnam for sale.

The total weight of artillery that Thin transported across the border was nearly 500kg. (Photo by Anh Tuan)

On December 31, Nguyen Ba Thin leisurely transported the carefully camouflaged fireworks through the border gate to return to his country. Once he got through the border gate to Vietnam, he thought the goods would be smuggled back to his country and earn a large profit, but Nguyen Ba Thin did not expect that the authorities would quickly discover his crime.

Currently, the authorities are continuing to consolidate the case file and handle the case. This is a particularly outstanding achievement of the Environmental Police Department in particular, and Nghe An Provincial Police in general, on the eve of the new year Dinh Dau 2017, practically responding to the peak period of attacking and suppressing crime, protecting peace for the people before, during and after the Lunar New Year.

Mr. Tuan