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Customs officials struggle to control maritime smuggling
Preventing smugglers from moving goods by sea will be difficult, especially through the end of the year, said Nguyen Van Huy, Head of the Dissemination and Training Department under the Ministry of National Defence.
"Coal, minerals and oil make up most of the cases of trafficking at sea, and the practice tends to increase at the end of the year," said Huy.
The most difficult problem marine police typically face is tracking vessels involved in illegal trade.
"Traffickers use large ships with modern equipment which can resist level six or seven storms, while customs ships can only resist storms up to level five," he said.
Defining a moving target at sea is also difficult. On windy winter days, fog covers the sea and limits the visibility of customs officers.
"Traffickers' ships often move slowly and hide behind fishing ships to avoid being observed," he said.
Awareness among local residents is still low, so they often join hands with traffickers without knowing the real consequences.
"Traffickers divided their goods and move them to fishing boats to make it difficult for us to confiscate contraband items," Huy said.
Traffickers have many other sophisticated tricks.
"When being chased by customs boats, they throw ropes and sacks into the sea to clog up our ship systems. Our boats get stuck and stall in place," Huy said.
Despite the difficulties, Marine Police Region 1, managed by the Dissemination and Education Department, have caught a number of traffickers this year.
From September 26 to October 28, the police investigated 16 ships. In September, they caught a foreign ship transporting 475kg of frozen livestock and poultry organs. On March 13, they caught a ship illegally transporting 1,200 tonnes of coal from northeastern Quang Ninh Province to China, said Huy.
In the first ten months this year, Marine Police Region 1 engaged in 27 patrol trips which resulted in the confiscation of more than 7 cubic metres of wood and 4,000 tonnes of coal. Fines for these infractions added VND1.2 billion (US$63,157) to the State budget.
Marine Police Region 1 has set a specific plan to minimise their difficulties.
"Next month will be peak season for preventing the trafficking of fire crackers, sky lanterns and dangerous children's toys before the Lunar New Year," said Huy.
The Dissemination and Education Department will organise training courses for its workers on professional competence, managing ships, using arms and swimming.
"We will also join hands closely with local authorities to strengthen our patrols and ask residents to avoid co-ordinating with traffickers," said Huy.
In recent years, 80-90 per cent of known traffickers were caught thanks to help from residents, he said.
Marine Police Region 1 manages waters from the Bac Luan Estuary in the northern province of Quang Ninh to the Con Co Island in the central province of Quang Tri.
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