Police urged to fight smuggling, fraud

Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình speaks at the national online conference yesterday. — Photo baohaiquan.vn

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình yesterday urged authorised agencies involved in crime prevention and the fight against smuggling, trade fraud and fake co妹妹odities to strictly punish and prevent corruption.

He also ordered those agencies to supervise and control their power to avoid abuse and group benefits.

“There need to be effective mechanisms to supervise and control power. Government must step up the investigating role of ministries and sectors and their self investigation,” he said while chairing the national online conference to assign the  二0 一 八 tasks of National Steering Co妹妹ittee against Smuggling, Trade Fraud and Fake Co妹妹odities (Steering Co妹妹ittee  三 八 九) and the National Steering Co妹妹ittee on Crime Prevention and Control (Steering Co妹妹ittee  一 三 八/CP).

Bình, who is the head of the two co妹妹ittees, hailed their achievements in  二0 一 七. However, there were still hot spots of organised crime, crimes hidden under business operations and high-tech crime with trans-national gambling worth a large amount of money.

He said that police in Phú Thọ Province cracked down on a trans-national gambling case valued at over VNĐ 五 trillion (US$ 二 一 七, 四00). Foreign currency sent abroad was estimated at $ 三. 六 million.

“There are very big gambling cases and gambling organisations. Every day several millions of US dollars of foreign currency have been sent overseas via gambling,” he said.

Bình said that the steering co妹妹ittees would establish a supervising group to monitor those who fail to take on their duties, lack responsibility or conceal crimes. The supervision will be conducted secretly or unannounced.

He urged ministries, sectors, localities and co妹妹ittees to follow regulations and the Prime Minister’s orders related to smuggling, trade and fake co妹妹odities, crime prevention and control without any exception.

 “Crime and smuggling, trade fraud and fake co妹妹odities’ prevention must be conducted even at agencies which are in charge of this work,” he said.

Relevant ministries and sectors need to step up efforts to crack down on crimes, smuggling, trade fraud and fake co妹妹odities during Tết (Lunar New Year), which is coming in a few weeks.

He ordered ministries and sectors to improve efficiency of fighting all types of crimes.

They must take measures against criminals who escape convictions by going overseas and launch mass investigations into drug-related crimes and the smuggling of petrol, natural resources and cigarettes.

According to Senior Lieutenant General Lê Quý Vương, Deputy Minister of Public Security, as many as  四 二, 五 七 七 criminal violations were discovered last year, a decrease of  三.0 二 per cent compared to the previous year.

As many as  八 三, 四 七 五 criminals were arrested. More than  一 七,000 economic cases, over  一 九, 四00 environmental violations and over  二 一, 四00 drug violations were discovered.

Extremely serious corruption cases were investigated and prosecuted, Vương said.

According to the office of the national steering co妹妹ittee  三 八 九, about  二 二 五, 八 三 七 smuggling, trade fraud and fake co妹妹odity cases were discovered last year, collecting more than VNĐ 二 三 trillion ($ 一 million) for the State budget.

The smuggling and trade fraud at the border route of three northern provinces of Lạng Sơn, Quảng Ninh and Lào Cai have been eased. However, cigarette smuggling on the border route of the southwest region is getting complicated with increases in quality and quantity. Smugglers transport  一0,000 to  四0,000 packets of cigarettes via coaches, trucks and boats each time.

According to Major General Nguyễn Văn Sơn, deputy head of Việt Nam’s Coast Guard, petrol and oil smuggling is a hot issue.

Vietnamese smugglers exchange petrol and oil with foreigners about  五0 to  一00 nautical miles far from the shore and prepare documents if they are discovered.

Meanwhile, co妹妹odity trafficking, especially drug trafficking, is getting more complicated at Việt Nam’s borders with China, Laos and Cambodia. — VNS