Smugglers took advantage of temporary importing permits, forged the registration numbers, then sold them for profits.
Police in Hanoi yesterday arrested Ngo Doan Phuc, 33 years old, from Hoang Mai District, Hanoi, believed to be the leader of a luxury car smuggling ring that imported and illegally sold vehicles such as Hummer, Land Rover, Toyota Prado, and Lexus cars. It was reported that the hands of some State officials were involved in helping with the operation as well.
According to initial reports, Phuc and his accomplices took advantage of permits issued to foreignersworking in Vietnam that allow them to purchase vehicles with major tax exemptions. The vehicles then are supposed to be exported out of the country when the foreigner leaves. Utilising these permits, the group was able to bring luxury cars from Laos and Cambodia into Vietnam from 2008 - 2009. After the cars had been imported, the smugglers changed the identification numbers of these vehicles to those of old cars that had been liquidated. Using their connections with State officials who were responsible for handling paperwork of liquidated vehicles to create new registration numbers of the illegally imported cars, the smugglers then used these documents to sell their cars on the market for profits.
Relevant authorities have now confiscated 4 vehicles imported from Laos into Vietnam with their plates already registered. According to the property evaluation, these 4 illegally imported cars are worth about VND 6.3 billion (USD 326,000).
Police will continue to investigate this matter.