Strengthening the fight against cross-border smuggling

(Baonghean) - From now until the Lunar New Year of Giap Ngo 2014, the situation of smuggling and trade fraud in border areas will become more complicated, especially with prohibited goods, sensitive goods, prohibited export and import items such as fireworks, wild animals, etc. The fight against smuggling in border areas is still very difficult.

Illegal beef, illegal timber, drugs...

We went up to Nam Can - Ky Son Border Gate at the end of the year. About 500m from the border gate area, we still saw people leading buffaloes and cows standing by the ravine waiting for cars to transport them. According to the local people, buffaloes and cows are mainly bought by local people from Laos and then herded through the unofficial border crossing from Laos to gather near Nam Can Border Gate to bring them downstream. Cu Xua - Head of Tien Tieu village, Nam Can commune, just led 2 buffaloes from Laos and said: Each buffalo was bought there for about 22-25 million VND, then taken care of and "fattened" for about 20-25 days and sold for 27-29 million VND/buffalo, traders came to buy them.

However, this job is also very risky, some children died of disease when they returned home, losing tens of millions of dong. Cu Xua admitted: The village has over 70 households, life has been difficult for a long time so people consider the job of leading buffaloes across the border as a way to make a living. According to Cu Xua, the time to buy buffaloes in Laos sometimes takes 7-10 days, you have to go to Lao villages to buy, then spend more than 2 days crossing the forest to return to Vietnam. There have been quite a lot of buffaloes smuggled across the border in recent years but the number of cases handled can be counted on the fingers. Mr. Phan Van Nham - Deputy Head of Nam Can Border Gate Customs Branch said that since the beginning of 2013 until now, Nam Can Border Gate Customs Branch has not handled any cases of smuggling buffaloes.

The head of Cu Xua village (right) - Tien Tieu village, Nam Can commune (Ky Son) has just herded buffaloes from Laos.

In addition, the illegal timber trade in the areas bordering the Vietnam-Laos border is increasing. At Nam Can Border Gate, the subjects trading rare timber from Laos such as rosewood often saw it and mix it into passenger cars and trucks to bring it downstream. According to a leader of Traffic Control Team 1-48, illegal timber is mainly transported from the border areas in Que Phong. The subjects transporting illegal timber are very sophisticated and cunning, sawing it into small pieces and putting it under passenger cars and pickup trucks and then bringing it downstream. Recently, the working group of Traffic Control Team 1-48 caught Nguyen Vu Dong, born in 1968, in Dien Ky commune - Dien Chau, transporting 3.7m3 of rosewood (without documents) on a passenger car with Lao license plate UR-0122. Arrested Nguyen Van Nam, born in 1988, in Tan Lac Town - Quy Chau, driving a car with license plate 37C-609.93, confiscating 4.1m3 of illegal timber (dổi and de wood without papers)... The Environmental Police Department of Nghe An Province Police arrested a passenger car with license plate 37N - 4410 traveling in the direction of Ky Son - Vinh and confiscated 5m3 of dổi and de wood of unknown origin. To deceive the authorities, driver Le Xuan Hung removed the seats on the passenger car to put the wood underneath. Illegal timber was also transported downstream by river... Traffic Control Team 1-48 alone has arrested and confiscated over 22m3 of various types of timber since the beginning of 2013.

Lieutenant Colonel Dang An Son - Head of Nam Can Border Gate Station said: Drug traffickers are becoming more and more reckless. Recently, the Station's soldiers caught the biggest drug case ever, including 15 heroin cakes and 2,000 synthetic drug pills brought to Vietnam by 3 Laotian subjects, confiscating 1 car, 1 motorbike and firearms. In 2013, the Station caught 7 drug trafficking cases with over 2,400 synthetic drug pills and over 1,200 grams of heroin. The Border Gate Customs Branch coordinated with the authorities to catch 11 drug cases, confiscating 115.539 grams of heroin, 380 synthetic drug pills and many other illegal animal trafficking cases.

Strong solutions are needed.

It is known that buffalo and cows imported from abroad into Vietnam are subject to a 5% tax. To evade the tax, many "brokers" have chosen to smuggle buffalo and cows across the border by hiring local people to go to Laos to herd buffalo and cows through unofficial channels. Why do brokers still brazenly bring their vehicles near Nam Can Border Gate to transport buffalo and cows without any fear of the authorities? Mr. Phan Van Nham - Deputy Head of Nam Can Border Gate Customs Branch explained: The Customs Branch has coordinated with the authorities to inspect but all have valid documents, such as certificates of origin of buffalo and cows from the local and communal authorities. But with all the documents, the authorities cannot handle it. And with the naked eye, it is impossible to distinguish between Vietnamese buffalo and cows or Lao buffalo and cows. It is also because of the "treasure" of "certifying the origin of cattle" that the "brokers" did not encounter any obstacles in transportation. As for the quarantine process, if there were no documents, some accepted to pay the fine, while the rest almost "escaped".

At the end of the year, smuggling of goods across the border becomes more complicated. To reduce this situation, Nam Can Border Gate Customs Branch coordinates with local authorities and functional agencies to strengthen patrolling and control in key areas and areas on both sides of the border gate. Prevent and strictly handle acts of smuggling of cattle, poultry and subjects who hire cattle herders. To reduce the amount of smuggled goods across the border, it is necessary to strengthen inspection and strictly control of means of transport in and out of the country, import and export goods to promptly detect acts of smuggling of goods across the border. Close coordination between Department CP 47 of Nghe An Provincial Police, police of Con Cuong, Tuong Duong, Que Phong, Ky Son districts, ... border guards at border gates to fight and prevent smuggled goods through border gates and border routes into our province.

Lieutenant Colonel Dang An Son added: To prevent and effectively combat smuggling and drug trafficking at the end of the year, Nam Can Border Gate Station has increased its forces to proactively deploy professional plans to combat and prevent in the most effective way; strengthen re-inspection of means of transport for import and export of goods after customs inspection; step up propaganda work, mobilize the masses to denounce crimes, not to assist in smuggling activities...

Vuong Tran