HCM CITY –  Prevention of smuggling of goods across the country’s borders is becoming more difficult as the New Year season approaches, according to border authorities.

Three districts in Bình Phước Province (Bù Gia Mập, Bù Đốp and Lộc Ninh) which border Cambodia have seen an increase in smuggled goods.

For the first nine months of the year, authorities detected 2,659 smuggling cases.

Smuggled goods were mostly cigarettes, sugar and clothing. The amount of issued fines and back taxes totalled over VNĐ37 billion (US$1.6 million).

The smuggling cases are usually carried out by small groups of individuals in a number of ways that have become more sophisticated. Many smugglers use shortcuts through the rocky terrain and rivers that help them elude capture by authorities.

Smugglers travel to Cambodia to purchase goods, split up the goods in smaller portions, and then smuggle them into Việt Nam for sale.

Nguyễn Văn Hiếu, deputy director of Bình Phước’s Department of Industry and Trade, said that smugglers hired men to keep track of authorities and communicate by phone to arrange different smuggling routes. 

Even though anti-smuggling efforts have increased, limited funding has made it difficult to analyse suspicious goods before they are sold to customers, he said.

Smuggled goods are also going through Đồng Đăng Town in Lạng Sơn Province’s Cao Lộc District, which is close to the Chinese border, said first lieutenant Dương Văn Tốt of the border guard at the Hữu Nghị International Border Gate. 

Even though barbed wires have been set up on several paths along the border and officers are assigned to patrol around the clock, the length of the border has made it difficult to monitor.

In addition, smugglers use a wide variety of methods to keep track of officers and wait for the perfect opportunity to cross the border.

Smuggled goods in Đồng Đăng Town are stored in Vietnamese households near the border and then transported via train or car.

On November 7, authorities discovered a truck in the town that was transporting a wide variety of goods, including those with fake brand logos. All of the goods were without proper certifications.

As the New Year approaches, authorities are working with other officials to more closely monitor borders and conduct market inspections to detect fraudulent and smuggled products. — VNS