On May 27, An Giang Provincial Police said officers had executed a temporary detention order against Nguyen Van Khanh, a resident of Khanh Binh Commune, to investigate allegations of illegally transporting goods across the border.
According to investigators, on May 7 Khanh agreed through the messaging platform Zalo to transport the gold bar from Cambodia into Vietnam for an unidentified individual.
While carrying the gold near the Hau River area in Khanh Binh Commune, Khanh was discovered and arrested by authorities along with the evidence.
Evidence in the case (Photo: Police).
Police said smuggling and illegal cross-border transportation of goods in the province had become increasingly complicated in recent months.
Authorities noted that differences between domestic and international gold prices had encouraged smuggling activities, with suspects using social media to communicate and taking advantage of the complex border terrain to carry out increasingly sophisticated operations.
In response, the anti-corruption, economic crime, smuggling and environmental crime division of An Giang police has intensified coordination with border guard forces to investigate and crack down on illegal cross-border trade activities.