Identify the source of 'dirty gasoline' to handle it at its root

(Baonghean) - Faced with the fact that some establishments have been discovered to be trading in “dirty” gasoline to take advantage of consumers, the authorities have determined that they must clarify the source of the “dirty” gasoline flooding into the area. Thereby, thoroughly handling the violations at the root.

» How does 'dirty' gasoline harm cars?

» Exposing new 'dirty' gasoline trading tricks

Hit the nail on the head

From the comments about the fraudulent tricks of selling poor quality gasoline to take advantage of consumers, the functional forces, mainly the Provincial Police and the Department of Science and Technology, carried out Project 917 XD, secretly sent scouts to follow the clues step by step, determined to catch the ringleaders bringing "dirty" gasoline for consumption in the area.

Binh Huong petrol station (Que Phong). Photo: D.T

At 11:00 a.m. on October 10, 2017, PC46 Department of the Provincial Police, the Inspectorate of the Department of Science and Technology, and Department A71 of the Ministry of Public Security caught Thanh Ngu Company Limited (Ngoc Tan Hamlet, Dien Ngoc Commune, Dien Chau District) red-handed pouring solvents in a tank of a car with license plate 37C - 7512 into a gasoline tank at a gasoline business location for customers. The amount of solvents transported on this tanker had a capacity of 40,000 liters, driven by Mr. Ngo Quang Thuc for Quang Luc private enterprise (address: Hamlet 8, Quynh My Commune, Quynh Luu District) from Can Tho City.

During an inspection at Thanh Ngu Company, the authorities discovered 2 bottles of colorant powder and 2 gasoline tanks (one tank contained 3,000 liters of A92 gasoline; the other tank contained 7,000 liters of A92 gasoline). Through the investigation, the business owner, Ms. Vu Thi Thanh, had to admit that the 7,000-liter tank contained gasoline mixed in the following ratio: 50% A92 gasoline + 50% solvent + colorant = poor quality gasoline.

Continuing to inspect Kien Luc Private Enterprise, the authorities discovered that this enterprise had two tanks containing over 10,000 liters of poor quality gasoline; 1 bottle containing colorant powder. Through the investigation, the son of the owner of this enterprise, Tran Van Tuan, had to admit that from August 2017 to present, he had purchased 320,000 liters of solvent at a price of 10,600 VND/liter.

Of which, 160,000 liters were sold to Thanh Ngu Company Limited; the remaining 160,000 liters, Tuan directed to mix with A92 gasoline at a ratio of 80% A92 gasoline + 20% solvent + colorant. Tran Van Tuan also confessed that in previous solvent trucks, Kien Luc Private Enterprise sold 40,000 liters to Ky Phuong Gas Station; sold 5 trucks to Sau Hang Gas Station, equivalent to about 200,000 liters.

From the amount of solvent that Kien Luc Private Enterprise purchased from Can Tho city and transported to Nghe An, and the solvent mixing ratio as the enterprise owner declared, the authorities determined that the amount of "dirty" gasoline sold by this enterprise in the province was up to 2 million liters in the period from August 2017 to present.

According to the VAT invoice for selling solvents of Mekong Petroleum Company under Can Tho Petroleum Corporation, the price of solvents is 10,600 VND/liter; meanwhile, the price of A92 gasoline sold on the market is 18,000 VND/liter; therefore, from this difference, the two businesses trading in “dirty” gasoline earn huge profits.

An officer participating in the project said that the detectives followed the tanker truck all the way to Can Tho city to understand the behavior of the solvent delivery. Then, they promptly reported the information to the Project Board to send detectives to intercept each route, grasp every movement, and strike the decisive blow when the subjects made the delivery at the petrol business location...

Root cause treatment

Over the past few years, authorities have repeatedly discovered fraudulent tricks in the petroleum business, taking unfair advantage of consumers. Previously, it was the use of electronic chips and measurement fraud; now, it is the trick of mixing “dirty” gasoline. With this newly discovered “dirty” gasoline business trick, the level of harm is much more terrible than the measurement fraud trick.

Because when vehicle users buy "dirty" gasoline, in addition to being illegally exploited, they may also encounter unusual incidents while driving the vehicle, endangering their lives; in addition, the vehicle may be damaged.

Therefore, immediately after discovering and clarifying the violating enterprises, in the Inspection Conclusion No. 874/Kl-KHCN-TTr dated September 12, 2017 of the Department of Science and Technology on "Conclusion of inspection of measurement standards and quality of petroleum trading enterprises" specifically stated the identities and violations of enterprises that traded in poor quality petroleum. In addition, it required Que Phong, Quy Chau, Nghia Dan districts and Thai Hoa town to "closely monitor the petroleum trading establishments that have been discovered to have violated; publicly disclose the identities of the violating establishments in conjunction with disseminating and popularizing regulations on petroleum quality management to all petroleum trading establishments in the area".

Also in the Inspection Conclusion 874, the Director of the Department of Science and Technology, Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh, summarized the situation: Nghe An province has taken control measures on measurement such as sealing program IC stamps, changing management methods during the inspection of measuring instruments, strictly managing the approval of measuring instrument samples, coordinating with the Tax Department to seal the total meter..., the functional forces have taken drastic action, along with promoting the dissemination of legal regulations, thereby limiting fraudulent phenomena in measurement in the petroleum business.

However, through inspection and understanding of the situation, there has been a phenomenon of petrol businesses selling poor quality products, especially in mountainous areas and areas far from the central area...".

Thereby, it is recommended that districts, cities and towns in the province proactively have a plan to coordinate with the Department of Science and Technology Inspectorate and relevant functional forces to inspect and examine petroleum business establishments in accordance with the direction of the Provincial People's Committee in Plan No. 439/KH.UBND dated July 19, 2017 on strengthening inspection, examination, control and combat against smuggling and commercial fraud of petroleum in Nghe An province.

According to Chief Inspector of the Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Ha, there are about 700 petrol stations in the province; these establishments are franchised by reputable wholesale agents, but there are signs of importing poor quality petrol illegally. Therefore, in addition to transferring Inspection Conclusion No. 874, the Inspector of the Department of Science and Technology has requested that key units such as Nghe An Petroleum Company, in parallel with expanding retail agents, need to strictly control internally and have a form of strict handling of violating business establishments.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha said: “Not only the authorities and functional agencies, but also key enterprises need to get involved. In addition, consumers also need to be aware to detect fraudulent tricks, and provide timely information to handle violating establishments. Only then can we eliminate violations…”.

In the fight against violations in the petroleum business, the police force always plays a decisive role. In the Quick Report of Project 917XD on the fight against the acts of mixing and trading poor quality A92 gasoline, in addition to the detailed report on the arrest of two businesses that mixed and traded more than 2 million liters of poor quality gasoline.

Colonel Nguyen Xuan Thiem - Head of PC46 affirmed: “After investigating and clarifying the violations, the Special Task Force decided to temporarily detain the trailer with license plate 37C-7512 containing 40,000 liters of solvent; about 20,000 liters of “dirty” gasoline of two enterprises; 3 bottles containing colorant powder; documents, invoices and books related to import and export of goods and confiscate samples of gasoline and solvent for appraisal. The special task force is currently continuing to expand…”.

Thus, the tricks of trading in “dirty” gasoline to take advantage of consumers have been and are being gradually detected and strictly handled by the authorities according to the provisions of the law. We believe that these are sufficient lessons to deter those who are willing to trade in “dirty” gasoline to take advantage of consumers; information from the inspection and examination, from the implementation of Project 917 XD will help consumers raise their awareness, thereby creating a healthy environment for the petroleum business.

To avoid buying poor quality gasoline, customers should go to reputable and reliable addresses, so that when there is an unusual technical or engine problem with the vehicle, customers will have a basis to report or investigate the responsibility of the supplier. When detecting or suspecting the quality of fuel, everyone should immediately report to the authorities for a solution.

Nhat Lan - Dao Tuan