Customs officer investigated for abetting smuggling of milk from US

By Nhat Vy May 15, 2025 | 06:57 pm PT

Police inspect cartons of milk allegedly smuggled into Vietnam from the U.S. at a port in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Nhat Vy

The police began investigating Thursday if a customs officer at Saigon Port Customs Branch 1 in Ho Chi Minh City abetted a ring smuggle in milk from the U.S.

The investigation of Nguyen Thi Hien, 39, is part of a broader case involving Tran Quoc Khanh, director of a branch of Busan Company, who was arrested in May 2023.

According to case files, in April 2023 the HCMC Economic Police discovered a suspicious-looking container truck parked in a vacant lot on Vo Chi Cong Street, Thu Duc City.

They inspected it and found over 4,000 cartons of milk, 500 more than the importer declared to customs. They were allegedly brought in by Khanh under the name of Busan Company for consumption in Vietnam.

When questioned further by the police, those involved were unable to present invoices or import documents for all of the products in the container.

The police said Hien had faked the import requirements for goods, allowing Khanh to illegally bring over 4,000 cartons of milk and nutritional products from the U.S. worth nearly VND3.5 billion (US$135,000).