HCM CITY — The anti-smuggling police on Tuesday busted a gang that allegedly smuggled large volumes of electronic equipment and parts from China to HCM City.   

The Ministry of Public Security’s Anti-smuggling and Investigation Department (C74) worked with HCM City’s Market Management Division to crack the case after nearly three months of investigation.

Officers seized many consignments of electronic stuff from Phát Đạt 1, a shop in District 11.

The goods included used electronic products and mobile phone and computer parts with labels showing they were made in China, Malaysia and the US.

They were valued at VNĐ5 billion (US$220,000), according to the police.

The alleged gang leader, Võ Văn Hiển, 36, from the central province of Quảng Ngãi, failed to produce invoices or documents for the equipment and parts.

He admitted to the police that the goods were usually smuggled from China to HCM City before being classified and sold wholesale to eastern, Mekong Delta and Central Highlands provinces.

The police said the gang’s smuggled products have dominated the southern market for many years.

Hiển also rented a sprawling warehouse measuring thousands of square metres at the Sài Gòn Railway Corporation to store the goods before they were packaged and sold.

The police said a nexus with some local officials had enabled the gang to operate undetected for a long time. 

They are expanding the investigation and looking for others possibly involved with the gang. — VNS