Female Tan Son Nhat customs officer who assisted in smuggling sentenced

Tram did not check the shipment of 844 iPhones and iPads worth more than 9 billion VND, but instead labeled them as clothes and shoes and let them clear customs.

On the afternoon of December 1, after a day of trial, the People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City sentenced Le Nguyen Thi Ai Tram (39 years old) to 3 years in prison but suspended the sentence for the crime of Lack of responsibility causing serious consequences.

In connection with the case, Phan Quang Vinh (34 years old) received 14 years in prison, Phan Thi Da Huong (Vinh's sister) 12 years and Nguyen Hoang Minh (30 years old) four years in prison for smuggling.

According to the People's Court, Vinh and Huong were not honest and gave vague statements, so a more severe sentence was needed. The entire shipment was confiscated and turned over to the state treasury.

The defendants in court today. Photo: Trung Hieu.

Investigation results determined that on January 14, 2015, the Investigation Police Agency coordinated with the Road Traffic Police Department - Ho Chi Minh City Police to inspect a 16-seat car that had just received goods from the warehouse of Tan Son Nhat Cargo Services Company Limited (TCS warehouse) on Phan Thuc Duyen Street (Tan Binh District).

Upon inspection, authorities discovered that 13 packages still had their bills of lading intact, were not peeled, cut, torn, or had no signs of having been inspected before customs clearance.

The packages included 844 iPhones and iPads of various types smuggled from Hong Kong to Vietnam through Tan Son Nhat International Airport. This shipment was froma woman named Hoa (unknown origin)Vinh sisters handled the procedures. Total value is over 9 billion VND.

Vinh used the names of the motorbike taxi driver and his wife's brother to receive the goods, then together with his sister, he completed the procedures and paperwork. When completing the procedures, Vinh declared the goods as gifts and deleted the description of the goods and the package specifications on the two air waybills, then submitted the customs declaration.

As the person responsible for checking the non-commercial goods, Tram did not follow the regulations and cross-checked them, but filled in the information as shoes, clothes, children's toys... causing a tax loss of nearly 600 million VND.

Minh, a TCS warehouse delivery employee, knew Huong and helped take the 13 packages out of the warehouse without going through the inspection area. At the same time, the male employee forged the owner's signature on the warehouse delivery note in the consignee section and then directed the driver to take the goods straight through the customs control gate.

In court today, Tram and Minh admitted their wrongdoings. Vinh and her sister, however, were repeatedly brought to the attention of the jury for their evasive statements.

According to VNE