Smugglers have been capitalising on
the duty-free store at Moc Bai border gate with Cambodia to traffic a variety of
products to nearby HCM City while officials struggle to check the situation.

Tay Ninh Province’s Moc Bai Duty-free Superstore, which is
around 500 metres from the border gate, has become a magnet to smugglers
shopping for wine, cigarettes, mobile phones, electronic goods, chemicals,
cosmetics and car accessories.

Shoppers can easily rent identity cards allowing them to
buy more than the VND500,000 (US$25) a day limit.

They can also collect car accessories at open-air markets
in Cambodia, then divide them into small batches which they can transport them
through the border gate without customs duties.

These batches will converge at some locations along
national road 22 which links HCM City with Phnom Penh and be transported to the
city by buses.

Boxes of Heineken beer are priced at VND500,000 ($25) by
traders that hang around the super store, while the same box of beer costs
VND140,000($7) more in HCM City.

Cambodian-passport holders usually buy as much as they can,
given that they are not under an imposed value quota. They end up bringing goods
across the border then selling them to smugglers who will transport them back to
Viet Nam.

According to a garage owner in Binh Chanh District, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, some drivers just drive their cars across
border to have their accessories replaced before driving back, in the process
avoiding the 40 per cent import tax.

Smugglers employ buses shuttling between the border gate
and HCM City’s Ben Thanh Market with stops at other wholesales markets, to
transport their merchandise.

“We’re not allowed to chase suspected vehicles as chases
are dangerous and would probably cause accidents,” said Do Van Sua, a manager of
Moc Bai Checkpoint on the national road at Go Dau District.

“Smuggling buses usually run at high speed,” he added,
noting that smugglers are usually warned of checks in advance.

“We’re not tight enough on security,” he complained.

Vo Thanh Phong, head of the provincial department in charge
of market monitoring and a member of the anti-smuggling steering committee, said
that anti-smuggling forces cannot check every passing vehicle as they are
worried about causing traffic congestion, especially during rush hours.

“In fact, we’re allowed to search any bus provided that we
have clear evidence of smuggled goods to avoid bothering drivers in the road,”
he explained.

He said that three mobile task force units had been brought
into play in an attempt to capture elusive smuggles.

“Each team has from three to four members. One is stationed
at a border bus station and the other two at locations along the road,” he said.

They monitor the loading of goods at the station and inform
teams along the road to stop suspected buses for searches, he added.

“The forces stationed at the bus station are too small to
deal with a large number of smugglers there,” he explained.

Smuggling is on the rise as the Tet (Lunar New Year)
holiday approaches, he said, but is has showed signs of slowing in terms of
alcoholic beverages in particular.

“Domestic consumers are now more alert due to concerns
about counterfeit wine and beer,” he explained.

However, smugglers still risk bringing cigarettes into the
country given high consumer demand, even though cigarettes are already listed as
forbidden goods leaving importers open to facing criminal charges since the
beginning of last September, he said.

“Cigarette smugglers usually travel in groups at night.
They just run behind big trucks so they’re not spotted by police.”

“We will bring to court four major cases involving more
than 1,500 packets of cigarettes each to deter other smugglers,” he added.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade’s new decree that banned
the sale of petrol in separate containers has helped contain petrol smuggling
into Cambodia given the price margin between the two countries.

“Violating gas stations will face strict penalties,
including revocation of their business licences,” he said.

Source; VNS