Vietnam Authorities Seize Smuggled E-cigarette Products in Raid

According to a report from Lao Dong on June 11th, the General Department of Market Management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Vietnam announced that, following a joint inspection, enforcement departments in Quang Ninh Province and Hai Phong City seized 163,410 smuggled e-cigarette products and 9,913 kilograms of e-cigarette accessories.

The department stated that the 5th team of the Market Management Bureau of Xing'an Province, in collaboration with the 3rd team and the Economic Police Department of the Xing'an Provincial Public Security Bureau (PC03), conducted a surprise inspection of a warehouse located in Lanshan Village, Shanbian Township, Tianlu County, Xing'an Province. The warehouse is owned by Chen Chunxia (Trần Xuân Hà) (born on March 31, 1980, with a permanent address at No. 1, Suyiwa District, Beining City).

The products seized by the warehouse include:

A total of 62,720 e-cigarette devices with the "FLUM PEBBLE 6000" label; 17,590 e-cigarette devices with the "MIOU 18000" label and other foreign language information; 22,120 e-cigarette devices with the "BAR9K" label and other foreign language information; 34,270 e-cigarette devices with the "LOST MARY" label, made in China, and other foreign language information; 16,180 e-cigarette devices with the "GEEK BAR" label and other foreign language information; 10,330 e-cigarette devices with the "LOST VAPE 7500" label and other foreign language information; and 200 e-cigarette devices with the "VAPOR STORM" label and other foreign language information. Other e-cigarette accessories include:

A total of 286 kilograms of e-cigarette e-liquids with foreign language information on their labels and packaging were seized; 2,242 kilograms of e-cigarette accessories (various batteries) with foreign language information on their labels and packaging were also confiscated; 5,242 kilograms of e-cigarette accessories (various plastic parts) with foreign language information on their labels and packaging were seized; 37 kilograms of e-cigarette accessories (foam plastic) with foreign language information on their labels and packaging were confiscated; 825 kilograms of e-cigarette accessories (various packaging materials) with foreign language information on their labels and packaging were seized; and 1,281 kilograms of e-cigarette accessories (circuit boards) with foreign language information on their labels and packaging were confiscated.

According to preliminary statistics, the investigation team has seized a total of 163,410 e-cigarette devices and 9,913 kilograms of e-cigarette accessories. The owner, Chen Chunxia (Trần Xuân Hà), was unable to provide any invoices, certificates, or related documents to prove the origin of these products. It is preliminarily determined that these goods all have foreign language on the product labels and packaging, without any accompanying labels in Vietnamese.

The investigation team stated that all the mentioned goods exhibit characteristics of smuggled items. Currently, the investigation team has temporarily confiscated and sealed all the contraband goods, and will continue to verify and clarify the violations.