Smuggling

The lorry where the bodies of the 39 Vietnamese citizens were discovered. AFP Photo HÀ NỘI — A man, thought to be a ‘significant’ member of the people smuggling gang responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese citizens found dead in a lorry in England in 2019, has been arrested. The Vietnamese national, who has not been named, was detained by officers from the National Crime Agency at a petrol station in Middlesbrough, the UK, on Thursday. He is wanted by the authorities in Belgium, who allege he was a member of a network of people traffickers connected to the deaths. The man is suspected of running safe houses in Brussels where the migrants stayed before embarking on their fatal journey. A Belgian investigating magistrate issued an arrest warrant in December, suspecting that he was on the run in the UK and had links to the Birmingham area. Investigators tracked him down to a location in Middlesbrough, in the North East of England, where he was arrested at about … [Read more...] about Police arrest ‘significant’ member of people smuggling gang

Massive ring selling smuggled goods via livestreaming in northern region busted The Saigon Times Tran Huu Linh (R), head of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance, inspects a product at a warehouse in Hanoi – PHOTO: VIETNAM DIRECTORATE OF MARKET SURVEILLANCE HCMC – The Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance on June 22 raided eight warehouses and business facilities in Hanoi and Hung Yen Province, seizing around 40 tons of smuggled goods stocked by vendors for being sold via livestreaming. The raid was led by Tran Huu Linh, head of the Vietnam Directorate of Market Surveillance, in coordination with the Hanoi City police. The forces confiscated hundreds of thousands of products without a clear origin, mainly cosmetics, fashion items and household appliances that were offered for sale via livestreaming. The first team directly led by Tran Huu Linh raided a large-scale warehouse owned by Tran Tien Quang. The owner reportedly imported the products from … [Read more...] about Massive ring selling smuggled goods via livestreaming in northern region busted

First-quarter low growth seeks solutions The nation's economic growth in the first half of the year was at a rate lower than that targeted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic hurting production and business activities. The government is mulling over new solutions to drive the economy forwards, with some international forecasts still proving upbeat. Based on economic performance in the first five months of this year, the government has just reported to the National Assembly Standing Committee its fresh forecast that the economy’s total GDP in the first six months of this year will be nearly VND4 quadrillion (US$174.4 billion), up about 5.8% year-on-year, or 0.42 percentage points lower than the target of 6.22% as set out in the Resolution No.01/NQ-CP released on January 1 on the key tasks for the implementation of the socioeconomic development plan and state budget estimates for 2021. The 5.8% rise will also be 0.12 percentage points lower than the government’s … [Read more...] about VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS JUNE 19

133 local COVID-19 cases reported on June 17 evening Vietnam reported 136 new COVID-19 cases, including 133 domestic ones, in the past six hours to 6pm on June 17, according to the Ministry of Health. Bac Giang province and Ho Chi Minh City each logged 62 cases, while Bac Ninh had six, Ha Tinh two and Lang Son one. Of them, 131 infections were found in quarantine facilities and sealed off areas. As of June 17 evening, Vietnam documented a total 12,150 COVID-19 cases, including 10,483 locally transmitted ones. The number of cases since April 27, when the latest resurgence began, amounted to 8,913. On the day, 63 patients were given the all-clear, bringing the number of recoveries to 4,653. The death toll stood at 61. Among active patients undergoing treatment at medical establishments, 407 have tested negative for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 once, 114 twice and 65 thrice. Twenty-four provinces have gone through 14 consecutive days without new cases. As of 5pm on June 17, the … [Read more...] about VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES JUNE 17

With the highly contagious UK and Indian variants of COVID-19 detected in Vietnam, testing must be considered one of the most important parts of the fight against the pandemic, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said. Medical workers prepare to take samples for COVID-19 testing in Da Nang. The minister was speaking at the meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Monday morning. The country reported 125 locally acquired infections yesterday, the highest daily spike since the fourth wave began on April 27 and since the pandemic began earlier last year. The Indian variant, present in various clusters in the current outbreaks, was more transmissible and can spread quickly through the air, especially in closed spaces, Long said, adding that it was necessary to prepare for a worse scenario. Long said Vietnam’s testing capacity now was 1.7 times higher than during last year’s Da Nang outbreak, or the country's second wave. … [Read more...] about Testing key to defeating fourth wave of COVID-19: Health Minister

Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Quang Tri (VNA) – Border guards of central Quang Tri province, in coordination with Lao competent agencies, arrested five Lao people for smuggling over 50,600 ecstasy pills and 1kg of crystal meth on March 19. They were arrested in Salavan province of Laos while trying to smuggling addictive substances into Vietnam. Phan Thanh Minh, chief of the drug and crime prevention office under the provincial Border Guards High Command, said the arrestees are part of a trans-national drug trafficking gang working from Thailand to Laos and then the Vietnamese provinces of Kon Tum, Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Quang Binh and Quang Tri. Later, the local border guards handed over the drug traffickers to public security forces of Salavan province.-VNA VNA … [Read more...] about Quang Tri border guards bust trans-national drug ring