(HQ Online) - Taking advantage of the border resident policy, using homemade camouflaged vehicles to transport gold... in just a short time, dozens of subjects organized the illegal transportation of more than 6 tons of gold, worth 8,461 billion VND from Cambodia to Vietnam for sale, illegally earning tens of billions of VND.
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| Smuggled gold caught red-handed being transported on September 28, 2022 |
More than 2 months of smuggling 6 tons of gold
Since 2012, the State Bank has strictly managed the import of gold bars, gold ingots, and raw gold according to Decree 24/2012/ND-CP.
Taking advantage of the market's demand for gold bars and raw gold and the domestic gold price being higher than the gold price in Cambodia, in a short period of time, the subjects organized the smuggling of a large amount of gold from Cambodia to Vietnam through the Chang Riec border gate (Tay Ninh).
On September 28, 2022, the Investigation Police Agency (C03) - Ministry of Public Security monitored and supervised the entire process of the subjects transporting and smuggling gold from Cambodia to Vietnam, bringing it for consumption and ordered an emergency search of 2 vehicles of 2 groups of subjects immediately after receiving and delivering gold at Hong Lac Street, Ward 14, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, arrested 4 subjects, seized 63 kg of gold, and the means of transport. Expanding the investigation, C03 conducted emergency searches at the locations of residence, workplace, and gold shops of the related subjects in Tay Ninh province and Ho Chi Minh City, confiscating an additional 13 kg of gold and a large amount of foreign currency.
Since the above incident, up to now, C03 has prosecuted 25 defendants involved in 2 smuggling rings. These two gold smuggling rings were led by Nguyen Thi Minh Phung (born in 1981, from Binh Dinh) and Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong (born in 1985, from Tay Ninh).
The first ring was led by Nguyen Thi Minh Phung, who linked up with Nguyen Thi Ngoc Giau and lured 20 people to participate. From August 2022 to September 2022, the subjects smuggled 4,830 kg of gold bars, worth more than VND 6,644 billion, from Cambodia to Vietnam, earning a profit of more than VND 17.6 billion.
The second ring was led by Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong, who colluded with Nguyen Thi Ngoc Giau and lured five other people to join the smuggling. Between July 2022 and September 2022, the subjects organized 1,320 kg of gold bars, worth VND1,817 billion, from Cambodia to Vietnam, earning a profit of more than VND6.8 billion.
Thus, within just 3 months, from July 2022 to September 2022, two lines led by Nguyen Thi Minh Phung and Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong, in conjunction with other subjects, smuggled 6,150 kg of gold from Cambodia to Vietnam, worth VND 8,461 billion, illegally profiting VND 24.4 billion.
Using homemade cars to transport gold
The subjects took advantage of the State's policy on managing people and vehicles that are border residents who regularly cross the border gate to smuggle gold.
The investigation results of the police agency determined that between 4:30 p.m. and 4:55 p.m. on September 20, 23, 24 and 27, 2022, a male subject rode a three-wheeled vehicle from Cambodia through barrier No. 1 of Chang Riec border gate into Vietnam. The vehicle did not have a license plate (homemade vehicle), the three-wheeled vehicle did not carry any goods, and concealed smuggled gold being transported into Vietnam (to Nguyen Thi Ngoc Giau's house).
According to the results of the investigation, during working hours, the Chang Riec Border Guard Station has arranged officers to coordinate with the Customs and Quarantine forces to directly control the border gate area. Outside working hours (from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. the following morning), the Border Guard force is responsible for guarding to ensure national security, prevent drug crimes, smuggling, and trade fraud. During these hours, people, vehicles, and goods are not allowed to pass through the border gate, except in cases of force majeure as prescribed by law.
However, from August 3, 2022 to September 28, 2022, between 4:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. the previous day and 6:00 a.m. the following day, the defendant Tran Thanh Thang regularly delivered motorbikes with ice-laden cargo containers to a Cambodian subject at barrier area No. 1 of Chang Riec border gate under the direct control of officers of the Border Guard Station. The behavior of the above officers shows signs of the crime of "lack of responsibility causing serious consequences". Considering that this violation is under the investigation authority of the Investigation Agency in the People's Army, C03 has therefore transferred all related documents to the Criminal Investigation Agency of the Ministry of National Defense for investigation and handling according to its authority.
The results of working with the Xa Mat Border Gate Customs Branch determined that the above time period was within the duty schedule of two customs officers. However, the vehicle driven by the accused Tran Thanh Thang was not subject to customs inspection. The statements of the accused, individuals involved in the case and the collected documents did not prove that the customs officers were involved in gold smuggling.
Regarding the above case, on March 20, 2024, the Supreme People's Procuracy completed the indictment proposing to prosecute 24 defendants involved in two smuggling rings of 6,150 kg of gold from Cambodia to Vietnam.
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