Many armed criminal groups operate in Saigon

The deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Police said that criminal gangs from the northern and central provinces operating in this locality often stockpile weapons to eliminate each other for profit.

On the morning of December 5, speaking at a conference on preventing and combating crimes related to weapons, explosives and supporting tools organized by the General Department of Police (Ministry of Public Security), Colonel Tran Duc Tai, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Police, said that criminals in this locality often prepare weapons and supporting tools to commit acts of Murder, Robbery, Intentional Infliction of Injury, etc.

Authorities discovered a shipment of guns transported by air. Photo: Provided by Ho Chi Minh City Customs.

“Notably, gangs from the northern and central provinces operating in the city focus on illegal profiteering areas such as black credit and debt collection, often associated with the possession of weapons and dangerous weapons. These gangs are willing to use weapons to settle accounts and fight each other for benefits,” said Colonel Tai.

In addition, drug criminals in Ho Chi Minh City often illegally use military weapons to deal with the authorities, or to intimidate their juniors and people from other drug rings. In drug cases discovered in 2016, Ho Chi Minh City Police seized 39 guns, 384 bullets, and many supporting tools and rudimentary weapons.

Explaining the increase in illegal possession and use of weapons, the Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Police said that recently, many types of support tools and military guns have been smuggled by air. To avoid detection, criminals do not transport weapons in their entirety but instead break them into smaller components and then cleverly hide them in checked-in packages.

In addition, there is a situation of smuggling criminals forging seals, customs documents, and certificates of reputable businesses to clear customs, temporarily import and re-export, and then swap goods, including weapons and support tools originating from China, Laos, Cambodia, etc.

According to the leader of Ho Chi Minh City Police, the biggest difficulty in fighting crimes related to weapons is that these people take advantage of the Internet to communicate, buy, sell, and instruct on the production and use of guns and explosives.

Citing the case of four students in Ho Chi Minh City who had an accident while making fireworks following online instructions, Colonel Tai said that current measures to investigate and combat online weapons trafficking crimes need to be more thorough.

The Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Police said that to prevent this, the authorities must have a firm grasp of the list of gangs that collect debts for hire and lend money at high interest rates; expand cases involving the use of weapons and regularly conduct administrative inspections in border areas to prevent criminals from crossing the border and bringing weapons back to the country to sell and commit crimes.

According to the General Department of Police, in 2016, 32 people died and 208 were injured in incidents involving weapons, explosives and supporting tools.

Authorities nationwide seized more than 1,100 guns of various types, nearly 14,000 bullets, 40 bombs, 216 grenades, and 386 kg of explosives. Investigators arrested 926 people in 579 cases of illegal possession, transportation, and use of weapons.

According to Zing