Over the past year, the situation of crimes and violations of laws on weapons, explosives, and supporting tools has continued to develop complicatedly. Notably, there has been an increasing trend in the illegal buying, selling, transportation, storage, and use of weapons, explosives, and supporting tools for personal revenge, asset robbery, and territory disputes among criminal gangs and groups.
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Danger from Weapons, Explosives, and Support Tools
According to statistics, in 2017 the police forces detected and handled 338 cases, arresting 347 individuals for illegal use of weapons, explosives, and support tools, resulting in 42 deaths and 241 injuries. More seriously, the activities of manufacturing illegal weapons have been on the rise, increasing by 120% compared to the same period in 2016. To date, the authorities have detected and captured 14 cases and 28 individuals, seizing 65 guns of various types and 2,974 bullets. A notable case was the Ho Chi Minh City Police capturing Nguyen Hong Phuc and his accomplices who set up a weapon factory, seizing 18 guns of various types, 1 grenade, 220 bullets, and other devices and components to manufacture weapons. Additionally, unauthorized digging and searching for weapons and explosives by civilians has resulted in numerous severe accidents, such as the case of Mr. Bo Bo Xep in To Hap, Khanh Son district, Khanh Hoa province, who sawed off the head of a 105mm artillery shell, causing an explosion on August 18, 2017, killing 6 people and injuring 1.
Violations concerning fireworks have decreased compared to previous years, but the situation of buying, transporting, storing, and using illegal fireworks continues. During the Tet Dinh Dau 2017 alone, the authorities detected and captured 1,040 cases and 1,195 individuals, seizing nearly 15 tons of fireworks and 5,700 various types of firecrackers. Even after that, offenders continued to organize the illegal buying and transporting of fireworks in large quantities from border routes into the interior, especially the border routes with China and Laos (to date, 73 cases and 97 individuals have been caught, seizing nearly 8.3 tons of fireworks and 800 various types of firecrackers). For instance, on September 14, 2017, during a patrol, the Bac Kan provincial police caught Vu Duy Bang red-handed transporting 2,415 kg of fireworks illegally on National Highway 219, passing through Ha Hieu commune, Ba Be district, Bac Kan. Offenders continuously change methods, tactics, routes, and even transport them mixed with other goods, making it difficult for authorities to inspect, monitor, and capture them. Residents in some bordering areas, rural regions, and coastal areas, due to negligence and limited legal awareness, intentionally set off fireworks on New Year's Eve, leading to 143 tragic accident cases.
Lieutenant General Nguyen Cong Son, Deputy General Director of the General Department of Police, presenting the 2017 report on crime related to weapons, explosives, and support tools.
Recently, criminals have not only used postal services and inter-provincial passenger cars but also exploited social media such as Facebook, Zalo, or forums to advertise, solicit, organize, and conduct illegal transactions of weapons, explosives, and support tools. Since early 2016, police units and local authorities have detected and seized 2,631 parcels sent domestically and internationally through postal services, express delivery, and inter-provincial passenger cars containing 4,356 weapons, support tools, and components, and explosive materials for manufacturing guns. In just July and August 2017, the Internet recorded 92,497 interactions including posts, comments, shares, and likes related to buying weapons and support tools, along with 4,252 interactions related to selling explosive materials. The method and tactics that criminals use to transport weapons, explosives, and support tools largely involve breaking down the "goods" into many parts, packaging them into different parcels, sending them multiple times, without listing the sender or recipient's address but only names and phone numbers. Transactions are not conducted directly; instead, they buy and sell through social networks and then make payments via bank accounts or the cash-on-delivery services of shipping companies.
Need to Propagate for Public Understanding, Support, and Compliance
In the practical fight against crimes and violations concerning weapons, explosives, and support tools in the current situation, it's required that the responsible authorities, especially the police, implement a comprehensive range of measures for both prevention and control. The General Department of Police issued Official Dispatch 336/C41-C64 on June 13, 2017, to direct and guide police units and localities in reinforcing the prevention and combating crimes using postal services, inter-provincial passenger cars, and the Internet to conduct illegal transactions and transport of weapons, explosives, and support tools. They actively advised the Ministry of Public Security's leadership in completing the law project dossier to report to the Government of Vietnam and submit it to the XIV National Assembly, passing the Law on Management and Use of Weapons, Explosives, and Support Tools no. 14/2017/QH14 on June 20, 2017, which takes effect from July 1, 2018. Additionally, they developed a detailed plan, established a Steering Committee, and a Task Force to implement the enforcement in the People's Public Security; researched and drafted one Decree and three Circulars providing detailed implementation of Law no. 14, projected for issuance in May 2018. Moreover, the General Department of Police has proactively advised the Ministry of Public Security's leadership to issue Plan no. 287/KH-BCA-C41 on October 6, 2017, concerning the comprehensive inspection, mobilization for public weapon, explosive retrieval, and prevention, and combating weapon, explosive, support tool, and firework violations. They organized a workshop with functional units from ministries and key local police to evaluate the current situation and find prevention and combatting measures against the illegal manufacturing, trading, transporting, and using of weapons, explosives, and support tools via the Internet, postal services, and goods transportation services.
Conference on Strengthening Prevention and Combating Crimes Related to Weapons, Explosives, and Support Tools.
In 2017, police units and local authorities proactively advised the Party Committees and governments to direct departments, mass organizations, social organizations, central and local media, radio, and TV stations to organize propaganda and mobilization campaigns for public weapon retrieval. They collected 1,568 guns of various types, 559 support tools, 4,847 bullets, 32 mines, 26 bombs, 251 grenades, 133 warheads, 51 artillery shells, 135.7 kg of explosives, 714 detonators, and 1,058 rudimentary weapons. Through localized management, coordinated patrols, promptly detecting and capturing 679 cases and 794 individuals, establishing special cases for investigation, and dismantling production, trading, transporting, storing, and illegal use of weapons, explosives, and support tools, they seized 440 guns, 14,610 bullets, 81 grenades, 1 bomb, 6,256.8 kg of explosives, 10,809 detonators, 3 tons of explosive precursors, 152.7m of slow fuse, 1,725 support tools, and 866 rudimentary weapons.
Officers of Thai Binh provincial police checking homemade guns seized.
At the Conference on Strengthening Prevention and Combating Crimes and Violations Related to Weapons, Explosives, Fireworks, Smuggling, Trade Fraud, and Food Safety during the Tet Mau Tuat 2018 on December 22, 2017, in Hanoi, Senior Lieutenant General Le Quy Vuong, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Deputy Minister of Public Security, gave a directive speech covering many important and guiding contents. At the conference, the Deputy Minister emphasized the topic of managing weapons, explosives, and support tools, highlighting that recently uncovered production, trading, transporting, and storing weapon cases showed criminals not only smuggle weapons from abroad but also attempt to produce and supply for domestic needs and fulfill foreign orders. From the practical anti-crime efforts, the Deputy Minister urged the police forces to resolutely combat crimes and associated corruption, protectionism, complicity, and turning a blind eye. He called for intensifying the establishment of special cases, proposing public trials for some prominent cases to deter and educate violators and potential offenders, and effectively coordinating with related forces like border guards, customs, coast guard, market management, tax, and forest rangers. The Deputy Minister affirmed that to elevate the effectiveness of social prevention, robust communication efforts to improve public awareness are crucial, aiming for the public's understanding, support, and compliance as immediate and long-term goals, significantly curtailing and reducing the illegal trading and use of weapons, explosives, and support tools.
Source: Police Magazine
