The Long An Provincial People's Court gave the sentence to Huynh Van Thanh, 48, at a trial on Tuesday.

According to the indictment, Thanh contacted a Cambodian man named Kha Ty in December 2021 to buy 39 gold bars each weighing 1 kilo and costing USD 58,000 to bring to Vietnam for resale.

On December 15, 2021, Thanh asked his brother Huynh Van Nhan who lived in Phnom Penh, and a Cambodian man named Many to come to Kha Ty's house in Phnom Penh to take the gold and bring to Thanh's house in Svayrieng Province.

At 11 pm on December 16, 2021, Thanh drove a car to the Vietnam-Cambodia border in Duc Hue District, Long An Province to take the gold that was brought to him by Many in eight bags.

Thanh put the gold into the boot and drove to his home in Duc Hue District. He was stopped by the police who then checked and found 39 kilos of gold, over USD 280,0000, and VND1.50 billion (USD 62,370) in cash.

Investigations showed that the VND1.50 billion was revenue from business activities that Thanh got with a partner. The sum was then returned to Thanh.

The foreign currency of over USD 280,000 was illegally brought to Vietnam and so was seized for further investigations.

At the Tuesday trial, Thanh, who has dual citizenship, was given seven years in jail for smuggling. He also faced a fine of VND50 million.

The gold worth over VND54 billion (USD2.25 million) will be expropriated.

The Cambodia-Vietnam border runs 1,158 km in length and gold smuggling frequently occurs.

Source: Dtinews