AN GIANG — The Mekong Delta Province of An Giang will set up security cameras at smuggling hot spots, Lê Văn Nưng, head of the provincial People’s Committee announced on Thursday.

According to the provincial Steering Committee for Combating Smuggling, Commercial Fraud and Counterfeit Goods (Committee 389), the province’s border of nearly 100km with many shortcuts, trails and channels connecting its subsidiaries with Cambodia’s localities create loopholes for smuggling activities.

From the beginning of August, when floodwaters rise, smugglers start stocking contraband goods to traffic to Cambodia or using high-speed motorboats to deliver goods to other provinces.

An Giang Province’s Committee 389 said that anti-smuggling work faced tough challenges due to the lack of human resources and facilities.

Meanwhile, the smuggling networks are getting complex, involving family members and making it hard for law enforcement agencies to completely break down.

Ngọn Cả Hàng Channel in Vĩnh Hội Đông Commune in Long Bình Town, An Phú District, Tịnh Biên Town and Tà Mâu Islet are major operating areas of smugglers.

In 2018, more than 1,600 cases of trafficking prohibited goods and smuggling were detected in An Giang Province, down 24.5 per cent compared to the previous year. 77 violations of goods’ quality and 99 cases of selling counterfeit goods were found.

The committee’s deputy head Võ Nguyên Nam said that they would accelerate collaboration with the provincial customs and border guard to tighten management over trails, shortcuts and common channels between the two countries to prevent smuggling activities. Nưng asked the provincial police to break smuggling networks by targeting their leaders.

Security cameras are going to be set up at smuggling hotspots, firstly in districts of Tịnh Biên, An Phú and Châu Đốc City, to prevent violations. — VNS