VietNamNet Bridge – Anti-smuggling officers on December 21 detected a man and a woman transporting up to 25.5kg of gold on a train from the northern border province of Lao Cai to Hanoi.
Anti-smuggling officers seized 18.5kg of gold, hidden in the man’s waistcoat and 7kg of gold in the woman’s suitcase. The volume of gold is priced VND29 billion dong ($1.45 million).

The couple are Tran Van Hai, 39, from Yen Bai province and Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, 46, from Lao Cai province.

The couple did not have any document proving the origin of the gold.

They said that they were transporting gold from China to Vietnam.

The case is under investigation.

On December 16, customs and police officers in the southern province of An Giang also seized 15kg of gold, transported by two men from An Giang to HCM City.

Gold smuggling is on the rise when the price of gold in Vietnam is much higher than in the international market. With 25.5kg of gold, smugglers can earn up to VND1.2 billion ($60,000) of profit.

PV