On the morning of September 26, a representative of the Traffic Police Department of Hanoi City Police said that the unit had just coordinated with functional agencies of the Ministry of Public Security and the Phuc Tho District Police to arrest two ships illegally dredging sand on the Red River.

Specifically, at 9:15 p.m. on September 25, Waterway Police Team No. 1 (Traffic Police Department, Hanoi City Police) coordinated with the Traffic Police Department (Ministry of Public Security), the Drug Economic Crime Investigation Police Team (Phuc Tho District Police) to conduct reconnaissance and ambush on the Red River in Sen Phuong Commune, Phuc Tho District.

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Authorities inspect two sand-sucking ships on the Red River. Photo: CACC

During the process of ambushing, discovering and capturing a ship with registration number VR070336XX that was pumping sand from the Red River bed into the cargo hold of the ship with registration number VP - 19XX.

The inspection found 3 people on the suction vessel with license plate VR070336XX and 2 people on the VP - 19XX vessel. At the time of the inspection, the people on the 2 vessels mentioned above could not present mineral exploitation licenses and documents related to the vehicle...

Authorities discovered about 200 cubic meters of sand in the cargo hold of the VP-19XX ship.

The working group has prepared a case file for handling according to the law and brought the two vehicles to the detention facility for verification and handling.