Vietnam Customs Wing Prosecutes Company for Allegedly Smuggling 88 Tons of Refined Sugar

Vietnam's Quang Nam Customs Department will prosecute importer H.T.P Import & Export Co. for smuggling 88 tons of refined sugar into the Thang Binh district, the state-run CustomsNews said Jan. 15. A shipment of 200 tons of refined Thai sugar was detected in July in eight containers brought in by H.T.P and registered at Dien Nam-Dien Ngoc Industrial Park Customs Branch, the report said. Following an investigation, the H.T.P director said the company didn't sell 88 of the 200 tons of imported sugar and had borrowed the shipment of 200 tons of sugar to pay debts it owed to the P.H.H Trading Co., CustomsNews said. However, the investigating customs unit found that the amount at which the 88 tons were sold was below its value and thus amounted to smuggling. As a result, the Quang Nam Customs Department director transferred the case to the Quang Nam Provincial Police Investigation Agency for criminal prosecution.