HCM City’s Market Management Department officials seized a million medical masks at a warehouse on Lương Thế Vinh Street. —Photo dantri.com.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City’s Market Management Department seized one million medical masks of unknown origin at a warehouse on Lương Thế Vinh Street, Tân Phú District on Tuesday evening.

An official from the inspection team said that 400 boxes containing the masks were prepared to be loaded onto a bus to be sold abroad.

He said that after a period of monitoring, the team from HCM City Market Management Department cooperated with HCM City Police’s Economic Crime, Corruption and Smuggling Police Department on Tuesday evening to check the warehouse.

He said among the seized masks, there were nine different types, all of unknown origin, and no invoices for the products.

Initially, the smugglers admitted purchasing the medical masks in the country, collecting them at the warehouse, then loading them onto a bus for sale abroad.

Further investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, police in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang have discovered two gangs smuggling face masks from Việt Nam to Cambodia, seizing approximately 36,000 items.

Trần Tấn Lợi, head of the Vĩnh Xương International Border Gate Customs Sub-Department, said the sub-department has co-operated with border forces to bust a smuggling ring in Tân Châu Town.

At 7.10pm on Tuesday, the police were patrolling a trail in the town when they found suspect packages containing 320 boxes of face masks. The police seized the masks.

Previously, on Monday, customs officials of the Tịnh Biên International Border Gate Customs Sub-Department pulled over a motorbike transporting boxes across the border without declaration. As many as 40 boxes of face masks were seized.

The motorbike driver, named Sam Nang, a Cambodian national, failed to show legal papers proving the origin of the products. He said he was hired to transport the cargo from Việt Nam to Cambodia. — VNS