Smuggled cigarettes pour into Vietnam from Cambodia ahead of Lunar New Year holiday

Large volumes of cigarettes are being smuggled from Cambodia to Vietnam as the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday approaches, despite Vietnamese authorities’ efforts to deter the situation.Officers in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang have recently busted the largest ever cigarette smuggling operation, confiscating 18,500 packs of tobacco, Colonel Le Quoc Viet, captain of the local border guards, affirmed on Wednesday.At 9:00 pm on Tuesday, police spotted two speedboats with suspicious signs traveling from Cambodia to Vietnam in the waters off of An Phu District, An Giang. They decided to surround the targets and carry out an inspection.Four suspects quickly escaped after they noticed the officers, leaving behind their boats loaded with smuggled cigarettes, worth a combined value of VND320 million (US$14,345), according to local police.The suspects gathered their illegal goods in Takeo Province, Cambodia then disguised themselves as fishery product traders to enter Vietnam, officers said.