Report Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigate Smuggling Ring Involving Customs Officer

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Picture courtesy of VN Express

 

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City have initiated an investigation into the involvement of Nguyen Thi Hien, a customs officer at Saigon Port Customs Branch 1, in a smuggling operation suspected of bringing unauthorised milk shipments from the U.S. into Vietnam. This probe is part of a larger investigation connected to Tran Quoc Khanh, the director of a Busan Company branch, who was arrested in May 2023.

 

The inquiry was sparked in April 2023 when the HCMC Economic Police noticed a suspicious container truck parked in a vacant lot on Vo Chi Cong Street, Thu Duc City. Upon inspection, officers discovered over 4,000 cartons of milk, 500 more than what had been declared to customs. The goods, allegedly imported by Khanh under Busan Company's name, were missing proper invoices and import documentation.

 

Preliminary findings suggest that Hien potentially falsified import documentation to facilitate Khanh’s illegal import of over 4,000 cartons of milk and nutritional products, valued at nearly VND3.5 billion (approximately US$135,000). The investigation aims to unravel the extent of the smuggling operation and determine the involvement of other parties in this unauthorized importation.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from VN Express 2025-05-16