The case was detected following a police check at a stall owned by Doan Thi Che, 56, at Da Lat farm produce market on August 21.

At the police station, Che said that a group of workers at her stall used a machine to wash Chinese potatoes. Each time, the machine can serve around 100 kilos of potatoes for some 3-4 minutes, depending on potato size. 

The police seized the potato washing machine and around a tonne of potatoes from Che’s stall

After being washed, potatoes will be covered with earth from the Central Highlands region and then packaged into bags and labelled with stamps issued by the market management board.

Some traders even take an additional step: putting some red dirt inside the bags before sealing them. The “dirt coating” phase receives close attention is to ensure the dirt stays on the potatoes during transportation.

The potatoes must remain wet, while the dirt must be completely dry during the mixing process.

Wholesalers aren’t concerned about the fraud at all.

Bags of red dirt are openly placed at several potato booths and some even dry the dirt on the street, with no pretence of hiding anything.

According to Che, the work was required by the traders who claimed that potatoes with red dust could be easily sold.

Chinese potatoes are often bought at VND7,000 per kilo, but when being disguised as the Da Lat produce, they are priced at up to VND20,000 per kilo in the market.

The police seized the potato washing machine and around a tonne of potatoes from Che’s stall.

Che has run the stall for years but doesn’t have a business licence.