Taking advantage of the kindness of fellow countrymen to transport prohibited goods

(Baonghean.vn) - Knowing that a fellow villager in the same district was driving a truck from Laos to Vietnam, he asked for a ride and brought a box of "fruit" as a gift.However, when arriving at Nam Can international border gate, Ky Son, the authorities checked and discovered that it was not a box of "fruit", but prohibited goods.

Born in the coastal commune of Dien Ngoc, Dien Chau district, Tran Cao Cuong is still single at 33 years old, working as a freelancer at home, without any stable job.

In early 2017, Cuong went to Laos to do business, hoping to get rich in the Land of a Million Elephants. However, during his time in Laos, due to language barriers, no friends or relatives, and financial difficulties, Cuong thought of trading in contraband goods to bring back to Nghe An to sell for profit.

Subject Tran Cao Cuong. Photo: Hai Chau

The item that Cuong is most concerned about and thinks about is smuggling fireworks, because in the locality and some neighboring communes, fireworks are still used during the traditional Tet holiday.

On the morning of September 15, when he learned that Vinh, a fellow villager from the same district doing business in Laos, was driving a truck (with a Lao license plate) to Nghe An, Cuong asked for a ride. With Vinh's consent, Cuong carried the "luggage" and put it in the toolbox, but Vinh had no idea that it was contraband.

On the afternoon of September 16, when the car arrived at Nam Can Ky Son International Border Gate, Mr. Vinh went to present his travel documents. The border guard station and customs force inspected and discovered that next to the truck's gasoline tank, there was an additional cargo tank. Suspecting that it was carrying prohibited or contraband goods, the working group requested Mr. Vinh to be inspected, and the authorities discovered that the tank contained 30.5 kg of smuggled fireworks of various types produced abroad.

Here, Mr. Vinh was shocked to explain that the goods belonged to Mr. Tran Cao Cuong, a fellow villager in Dien Chau district who had asked to be picked up from Laos to Nghe An. However, when the Border Guard Station officer asked Mr. Vinh to invite Tran Cao Cuong in to clarify the matter, the owner of the contraband had quickly left the car.

About 30 minutes later, the scouts of the Nam Can International Border Post arrested the owner of the above contraband and brought him to the station for investigation. Here, the subject declared his name as Tran Cao Cuong (born in 1983), residing in Dien Ngoc commune, Dien Chau district.

Tran Cao Cuong stated that while doing business in Laos, Cuong bought the above banned goods to bring back to his hometown Dien Chau to sell to people in the coastal areas of Dien Ngoc and Dien Bich communes for profit and to use during the upcoming 2018 Lunar New Year.

Knowing that storm No. 10 was making landfall in Nghe An at this time, and that authorities were focusing on responding to the storm, on the morning of September 15, when he learned that Vinh, a fellow villager in the same district, was driving a truck to Dien Chau district, Cuong asked for a ride.

With Vinh's consent, Cuong bought styrofoam boxes, put 30.5 kg of smuggled fireworks inside, and carefully wrapped them with tape. At noon that same day, Cuong transported the "luggage" to the toolbox, but Vinh was completely unaware that it was contraband.

Image of smuggled fireworks. Photo Internet.

Before putting the goods on the truck, Vinh asked what the goods were, and Cuong replied that they were fruits he bought to bring back home as gifts. "Because Cuong introduced himself as a fellow countryman, I trusted him and didn't check.... Who would have thought...", Vinh the driver explained to the authorities.

After taking initial statements, the Nam Can International Border Guard Station, under the Nghe An Border Guard Command, handed over the suspect Tran Cao Cuong along with the evidence of 30.5 kg of firecrackers and the case file to the Ky Son District Police for further investigation.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Dang An Son - Head of the Nam Can International Border Guard Station, Ky Son, from the beginning of 2017 until now, the station has coordinated with functional forces to detect and arrest more than a dozen cases of smuggling and transporting smuggled fireworks from Laos to Vietnam through the Nam Can international border gate, seizing nearly 80 kg of various types of fireworks. Of which, the case of transporting 42 kg of smuggled fireworks was transferred to the functional forces for prosecution, temporary detention for investigation, clarification, and handling according to the law, the rest were punished for administrative violations./.

Hai Chau