How is the crime of illegally transporting goods and currency across the border handled criminally?

Reply:Pursuant to the provisions of Article 189 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended by Clause 39, Article 1 of the Law amending the 2017 Penal Code, the crime of illegal transportation of goods and currency across the border is regulated as follows:

1. Anyone who illegally transports across the border or from a duty-free zone to the inland or vice versa goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, precious stones worth from 100,000,000 to under 300,000,000 VND or under 100,000,000 VND but falling into one of the following cases, shall be subject to a fine of from 20,000,000 to 200,000,000 VND, non-custodial reform for up to 02 years or imprisonment from 03 months to 02 years:

a) Having been administratively sanctioned for the acts specified in this Article or in one of Articles 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196 and 200 of this Code or having been convicted of one of these crimes, not having had the criminal record expunged, and still committing the violation.

b) Illegal objects are relics and antiques.

2. Committing a crime in one of the following cases shall be subject to a fine of from VND 200,000,000 to VND 1,000,000,000 or imprisonment from 02 to 05 years:

a) Organized;

b) Illegal goods worth from 300,000,000 to under 500,000,000 VND;

c) The illegal object is a national treasure;

d) Abusing position and power;

d) Taking advantage of the name of an agency or organization;

e) Committing the crime 02 times or more;

g) Dangerous recidivism.

3. Committing a crime in case the value of the illegal object is VND 500,000,000 or more, shall be subject to a fine of VND 1,000,000,000 to VND 3,000,000,000 or imprisonment of VND 05 to 10 years.

4. The offender may also be fined from 10,000,000 to 50,000,000 VND, banned from holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs from 01 to 05 years.

5. A commercial legal entity committing a crime specified in this Article shall be punished as follows:

a) Committing the acts specified in Clause 1 of this Article with goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, precious stones worth from 200,000,000 to under 300,000,000 VND; goods worth less than 200,000,000 VND but are relics or antiques; Goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, precious stones worth from 100,000,000 to under 200,000,000 VND but have been administratively sanctioned for the acts specified in this Article or in one of Articles 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196 and 200 of this Code or have been convicted of one of these crimes, not yet had their criminal records expunged and still commit the violation, shall be fined from 200,000,000 to 500,000,000 VND;

b) Committing a crime in one of the cases specified in Points a, b, c, e and g, Clause 2 of this Article shall be subject to a fine of from VND 500,000,000 to VND 2,000,000,000;

c) Committing a crime under the provisions of Clause 3 of this Article shall be subject to a fine of from VND 2,000,000,000 to VND 5,000,000,000 or suspension of operations for a period of from 06 months to 03 years;

d) Committing a crime under the provisions of Article 79 of this Code shall result in permanent suspension of operations;

d) Commercial legal entities may also be fined from VND 50,000,000 to VND 200,000,000, banned from doing business, banned from operating in certain fields or banned from raising capital from 01 to 03 years.

Thus, anyone who commits the crime of illegally transporting goods or currency across the border with a value of VND 100,000,000 or more or has been administratively sanctioned may be prosecuted for criminal liability and sentenced to non-custodial reform for up to 02 years or imprisonment from 03 months to 10 years depending on the severity of the violation.

Offenders may also be fined from 10,000,000 to 50,000,000 VND, banned from holding positions, practicing a profession or doing certain jobs from 01 to 05 years.

In case a commercial legal entity commits the crime of illegally transporting goods or currency across the border with a value of VND 200,000,000 or less than VND 200,000,000 but which are relics or antiques; goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, and precious stones worth VND 100,000,000 or more, it may be subject to a fine of VND 200,000,000 to VND 5,000,000,000 or suspension of operations for a period of 06 months to 03 years or permanent suspension of operations.

In addition, commercial legal entities may also be fined from VND 50,000,000 to VND 200,000,000, banned from doing business, banned from operating in certain fields or banned from raising capital from 01 to 03 years.