Officials arrested for smuggling in Vietnam
HANOI - The former deputy director of the Market Management Department in a northern Vietnam province has been arrested on smuggling charges, a police official said Thursday. Nguyen Trong Truong, 34, accused of abusing authority while carrying out official duties, was taken into custody on Monday. An officer from Quang Ninh province, 160 kilometres northeast of Hanoi, said Truong had assisted smuggling on routes between the border gate district of Mong Cai to Dong Trieu, where goods were distributed to Hanoi and neighbouring areas. Under Truong's watch, household goods were smuggled from China without paying any duties.
Truong's mistress, Le Thi Tuyet, who ran one of the biggest smuggling rings in Ha Long City, was also arrested the same morning, the police officer said. Truong and Tuyet are just two links in a major smuggling ring still being investigated, the police official said, adding that money involved in this case is still being invested, he added. In a separate case, the former deputy head of the Hai Phong investigative police department, Trinh Van Son, and four other senior policemen were reprimanded by Hai Phong's police directorate and the Provincial Party Committee, a local newspaper reported Thursday.
DPA - December 3, 2004
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