Illegal vehicles disguised as Lao vehicles operate chaotically

(Baonghean.vn) - At this time, it is not difficult to detect vehicles disguised as Lao passenger vans or trucks with Lao license plates operating illegally in Nghe An.

Present at the "capital" of Lao cars in Dien Thap-Dien Chau, we witnessed lines of passenger cars and trucks with Lao license plates lining up for kilometers, lying haphazardly on the roadside. According to the car owners: In the 1990s, Dien Thap people only went to Laos to trade, but for the past 10 years, they have bought passenger cars from Laos to transport passengers, but in fact, they mainly transport goods to the other side for trade.

Passenger car with Lao license plate in Dien Thap, Dien Chau loaded with goods

The operating rule of these vehicles is to pick up goods on odd days and depart at midnight or dawn on even days.

What is concerning is that illegal vehicles with Lao license plates often speed and recklessly pass through Dien Xuan commune, causing smoke and dust to cover the sky, then park and occupy the entire roadside of the Dien Thap commune section.

Car opens trunk to "stuff" goods, causing accident risk for traffic participants

Many passenger vans have old, worn-out Lao license plates, worn-out tires, rusty bodies, no seat belts, no fire extinguishers, and some areas have been extended to carry people and goods.

Currently in Dien Thap, each house is its own "bus station", they even post signs in front of the gate announcing the routes and running times.

One of the vehicles with Lao license plates in Dien Thap was arrested by Mobile Forest Ranger Team and PCCCR Team No. 1 for illegally transporting rosewood.

From 2010 to now, the authorities have caught many cases of vehicles with Lao license plates in Dien Chau transporting wild animals including turtles, black bears, various types of bear paws, panthers, etc. Recently, the authorities also discovered a vehicle with Lao license plate UN 1909 driven by Le Hong Bac residing in Dien Hong-Dien Chau, carrying over 1.3 tons of rosewood hidden on the roof and trunk of the vehicle worth over 1 billion VND.

What is especially dangerous on the way from Laos is that this type of "illegal" vehicle not only carries passengers but also loads up with discarded items such as electronics, refrigerators, air conditioners, and flammable and explosive goods.

Most of the passenger vans with Lao license plates in operation are owned by Vietnamese people with Lao nationality, however all procedures for registering a transport business in Vietnam such as business registration, parking lot registration, and route registration are lacking.

The reason why passenger cars and trucks with Lao license plates in Dien Chau are increasing is because using cars with Lao license plates has many advantages for business people. For example, buying a new car is cheaper than buying a domestic car because of low import tax in Laos. A sleeper bus in Vietnam costs 3.2 billion VND, but in Laos it costs about 1.6 billion VND, not to mention the fees when going through the border gate, which is also cheaper than a Vietnamese car.

Rosewood was sawn into small pieces and hidden in the trunk of the passenger car above.

Currently, Nghe An province has nearly 60 vehicles with Lao license plates, specializing in picking up passengers to Lao provinces such as: Vientiane, Pakse, Tha Khec, Luang Prabang. In which, Dien Chau district is considered the capital of Lao vehicles because there are up to 33 vehicles residing in Dien Thap commune; Dien Ky commune with 15 vehicles, the rest are scattered in Dien Xuan, Dien Thanh, Dien Hong communes and Dien Chau town...

Discussing the responsibility of the police agency for this issue, Mr. Vo The Quyen, Deputy Chief of Dien Chau District Police, said that checking and handling vehicles with Lao license plates is currently very difficult because most of the vehicle owners "circumvent the law" by signing a contract to rent a vehicle for transportation business with a Lao owner, the vehicle is under the name of a Lao person. Passenger vehicles often park to load goods, Dien Chau Police only check and handle traffic congestion within the district.

Van Truong