Probes have been launched into human smuggling rings in the city’s District 12 and Binh Thanh, Tan Phu, and Binh Tan Districts
Probes have been launched into human smuggling rings in the city’s District 12 and Binh Thanh, Tan Phu, and Binh Tan Districts
At least 116 foreign nationals were found to have illegally entered Vietnam over the past month despite tightened controls put in place amid the escalating novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, local police said in a statement released earlier this week.
The municipal Department of Police held a press briefing on Wednesday evening to publish the results of their first month of enhanced crackdowns on criminals in the southern metropolis, lasting from July 15 to August 14.
According to the report, police probed 245 criminal cases and arrested 358 individuals. They also busted 67 gangs, resulting in the arrest of an additional 224 criminals.
As Vietnam keeps a watchful eye on the resurgence of COVID-19 infections in the country, police departments throughout the nation have been vigilant about foreigners who may have entered the country illegally.
As a result, as many as 116 such border jumpers, including one sought by police from Da Nang, Vietnam’s COVID-19 epicenter, have been taken into custody by authorities.
Over the past month, Ho Chi Minh City investigators have launched probes into human smuggling rings in the city’s District 12 and Binh Thanh, Tan Phu, and Binh Tan Districts.
On Monday, Ho Chi Minh City chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong urged municipal police to work with the local people’s procuracy and court to press charges against those individuals who had illegally entered the city.
The move was intended to stall the spread of COVID-19.
The city leader also noted that one foreigner — a 27-year-old Chinese man who had made an illegal entry into the city last month — had tested positive for the virus.
Illegal migrants could become a serious source of transmission if the city fails to control such entries, the chairman said.
He instructed local police to carry out frequent inspections and set up booths to check people unlawfully entering the city.
According to chairman Phong, the city has not recorded any community transmission in the last 15 days, but the risk of an outbreak still exists due to its high population density and travel demands.
He asked grassroots authorities to remain alert as the outbreak in Da Nang has so far spread to 15 provinces and cities in the country.
“If Ho Chi Minh City has new cases of COVID-19 in the community, it could be dangerous since the city has a high population density and bustling economic activities. There would be more rapid transmission than in other provinces and cities,” he said.
As of Friday morning, the Southeast Asian nation had logged 1,007 COVID-19 cases with 542 recoveries and 25 deaths, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.
