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Part 3: The route of illicit cigarettes

Summary

Updated on : 26-07-2017

VCN- In comparison with the border area of ​​Long An, Tay Ninh (adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City), tobacco smuggling activities in border provinces in the Mekong Delta such as An Giang, Kien Giang, Dong Thap seemed to be quite but still had their own complexity

"Hot race" on the illicit route

In the afternoon of June 2017, at the border of Vinh Nguon (An Giang), there was the appearance of illegal cigarettes waiting to be transported into inland. Although this time was the delivery hours and the transportation of illegal cigarettes, the situation was quiet. We were wondering whether we were passive today, but we heard the sound of a motorcycle scurrying, then we could barely see 4 motorbikes carrying the cigarette luggage in a passenger car on the road. On the road from Chau Doc to Long Xuyen on Highway 91, we occasionally encountered groups of motorcycles carrying illicit cigarettes at a high speed.

According to the Steering committee of 389 An Giang province, illegal cigarettes are tending to increase because perpetrators have caught the difficulties of the forces in the processing of illegal cigarettes. Earlier, they only transported 490 packages per time per car, now they shipped 1,500 packages per time per car. At present, apart from old methods such as sugar-farming, subdivision of transported goods, perpetrators no longer stored cigarettes in the house but left them unoccupied areas and sent people nearby to guard. When they were discovered, they quickly left the goods and vehicles, so it was very difficult to capture both perpetrators and smuggled cigarettes. Thousands of packages have been seized by market forces. In the first 6 months of 2017, the number of smuggled cigarettes in An Giang province reached more than 500,000 packages, an increase of nearly 10% in comparison with 2017, but it was noticeable that the actual number of illegal cigarettes across borders was still high.

On Highway 80 connecting the border to Ha Tien Town and Rach Gia City (Kien Giang) and Highway 30 from Hong Ngu border to Cao Lanh (Dong Thap), the status of racing hot tobacco was still persistent. If the blocking forces, the smugglers temporarily stopped and waited for opportunities to go with more quantity next time. On 7^th July 2017, competent working group 389 of Ha Tien town pursued perpetrators carrying smuggled cigarettes running from Ha Tien town to Giang Thanh border gate. The perpetrator drove a motorbike at a high speed but the competent force still firmly arrested. In addition to cigarette packs, the team found that cigarette in the trunks of motorcycles with a total of 700 packages.

Particularly in Dong Thap, the border line along the So Thuong River from Hong Ngu District to Hong Ngu Town was still a hot spot for smuggled tobacco. This was a river with warehouses along the banks of the river, which was the ideal place for foreign cigarettes to flow into the river at a glance. This route was quite narrow, the residents of two sides were very crowded but perpetrators still ran at a high speed. In June 2017, at Nguyen Van Linh Street, Group 5, An Thanh Ward, Hong Ngu Town, the Customs Control Team (the Dong Thap Customs Department) collaborated with Police of An Thanh Ward, Hong Ngu Town to seize 1,200 packets of smuggled cigarettes. And most of the cases of illegal cigarettes were seized, the subjects fled when they discovered the task force. In the first 6 months of 2017, competent forces in Dong Thap province seized nearly illegally imported 300,000 packs of cigarettes. Particularly in the Dong Thap Customs Department in the first 6 months of 2017, this unit seized nearly 20,000 packs of illegal foreign cigarettes.

Difficulty in illegal tobacco handling

According to the Steering Committee 389 of provinces, there were still much difficulty and obstacles in the work of anti-smuggling of cigarettes, affecting the efficiency of this work. In the provisions of the Investment Law of 2014, cigarettes are goods subject to conditional business, but the Government's Decree No. 124/2015 / ND-CP of November 19, 2015, amending and supplementing a number of Decree No. 185/2013 / ND-CP regulates that smuggled cigarettes are prohibited goods. Due to the lack of agreement between the Law and the Decree, it is difficult for competent forces to conduct inspections and handling. In addition, in the case where the number of cigarettes is over 500 bags to less than 1,500 bags of cigarettes when transferring the case of criminal proceedings, they are regulated by the rules Defined in Clause 2, Article 7 of Joint Circular No. 36/2012 / TTLT-BCT-BCA-BTP-BYT-TANDTC. Under the provisions of Circular 36, the determination of the quantity used as a basis for criminal prosecution must be in the quantity of 1,500 packages or more.

According to Article 190 (Production and trade of prohibited goods) and Article 191 (Crime of storing and transporting prohibited goods) of the Penal Code 2015, the value of the offenses must be at least 100 million VND. For smuggled cigarettes, the value will be very high when the price of a pack of Jet and Hero is now only around the price of 15,000 VND / pack, so about 14,000 cigarettes can be considered for criminal processing.

That is not to mention the determination of the value of illegal goods for criminal treatment will be complicated, through the evaluation committee with the participation of representatives from various agencies, asking for pricing, price surveys, asset reviews, research on information related to valuation assets, and valuation meetings and costly than previous batch counting.

By Dang Nguyen/ Hoang Anh

Part 2: The “process” of sugar smuggling in An Giang

Flow of smuggled goods across the Mekong river border - Part 1: 'Matrix' of illicit sugar