News » Headlines
Contrabands flood city as Tet nears
  • | Tuoi Tre | January 14, 2011 05:18 PM

The trade of liquor, beer, dried foods, garments, fabrics, cosmetics, and cigarettes, mostly smuggled from China, has become hotter in Ho Chi Minh City as Tet is coming.

Transporting goods through a border gate in Lang Son province.

Last week, the city Market Control Department seized a large number of dubious handbags, footwear, wallets, and garments bearing famous brand names, said Ly Ngoc Thang, head of the Control Team 3A.

Hot spots trading in the contrabands include Ben Thanh Market, An Dong Market, and Square Saigon Center.

The department said An Dong is a hub selling illicit garments while Binh Tay is a center for smuggled dried foods.

A trader named My Hien at An Dong said on January 12 she purchased jeans and T-shirts without lawful invoices at VND70,000-80,000 (VND3.5-4) each for jeans and VND 40,000-50,000 each for T-shirts.

They were VND10.000-15,000 cheaper than goods sold on official markets, she said.
At Binh Tay, plastic slippers, shoes, handbags, backpacks illegally imported from China are displayed for sale in large quantities.

Traders said they sold them at half prices compared to domestically produced products.

80% come from China


In the past week, the market control department uncovered 37 cases involving trading in illicit goods, 80 percent of which came from China.

At Vinh Thang Co., Ltd. in An Lac Ward, Binh Tan District, the Market Control Team 5A seized 800 kg of shiitake mushrooms, 200 kg of white peziza, 290 kg of chestnuts and some other dried foods worth a total VND275 million (US$13,500).

They were all illegally imported from China.

Cosmetics are among the most smuggled goods these days, with 5,400 made-in-China eye pencils and eyelash curlers being detected without vouchers or import documents at a shop on Phung Hung Street, District 5.

Similarly, authorities seized 1,039 beauty items made in Thailand without documents at another shop.

Most recently, about 2,600 kg of cloths and 2,700 garment items without clear origins at the An Dong Market were confiscated.

As for cigarettes, liquor and beer, most wholesalers purchased them from the Moc Bai Duty-Free supermarket in the southwestern province of Tay Ninh and then distributed them to retail traders across the city.

Leave your comment on this story