Police in Hanoi have confiscated over 140,000 packets of foreign cigarettes worth about VND4.5 billion (US$218,128) with no import stamp or documents found during a raid of a local house.

 

Thanh Kien Trung, chief of the city’s anti-smuggling team, said the raid was conducted after police caught 43-year-old Nguyen Viet Dung red handed, transporting 500 packets of cigarettes Saturday.

 

Dung said he bought the foreign cigarettes in the northern province of Quang Ninh and transported it to Hanoi. He stored the goods in his house as well as his mother-in-law’s before selling them to local vendors.

 

Police said it was likely that Dung has been doing this business for many years.

 

They are investigating the case further, the police said.