An illegal sand exploitation vessel was found off the coast of Tiền Giang Province on December 8. — Photo courtesy of VCG

HCM CITY — Two vessels have been seized for illegally exploiting sand in the coast area of the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Tiền Giang.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Phan Nhân Hậu, head of the Đồng Nai Province-based Coast Guard Intelligence Division No. 2 under the Việt Nam Coast Guard Command, said a working team of the division and Border Guard of Tiền Giang Province discovered the two vessels 10 nautical miles from the province’s Cửa Đại Estuary when conducting field reconnaissance.

The seizure is part of the division’s campaign to prevent and fight criminal activities including illegal smuggling, drugs and drug crime, human trafficking, smuggling, trade fraud and counterfeit goods before, during and after the upcoming Lunar New Year (Tết) holiday.

Accordingly, the working team on December 8 stopped vessel SG7776 registered in HCM City and found about 300 cubic metres of sand. The vessel has capacity of 2,168 tonnes.

The vessel’s captain, Nguyễn Văn Hương, 38, of Nam Định Province, and six crew members were on board.

Another vessel was found with no registered number and about 100cu.m of sand. Its vessel’s captain, Bùi Văn Quyền, 38, of Hải Dương Province, and seven crew members were on board.

The captains of the vessels did not have ship registration papers and licences for sand exploitation.

On December 9, the vessels were brought ashore and the cases handed over to the Coast Guard Region No. 3 Command based in Vũng Tàu City in the southern coastal province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu for further investigation.

Recently, the illegal exploitation of sand has been occurring regularly in the delta.

Illegal sand exploitation has increased along rivers and coastal areas across the country in recent years.

The uncontrolled exploitation of sand has seriously harmed the environment, hurt the structure and safety of waterway transport, caused land erosion, and altered the flow of water. — VNS