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The offense of smuggling is regulated in Article 188 of the Penal Code of Vietnam. How many years of imprisonment is smuggling punished in Vietnam?
Level 1 of smuggling in Vietnam
Anyone who engages in buying or selling across borders or from a duty-free zone into the domestic market, or vice versa, with illegal goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, gemstones valued from 100,000,000 VND to below 300,000,000 VND, or below 100,000,000 VND but falls into one of the following cases, shall be fined from 50,000,000 VND to 300,000,000 VND or imprisoned from 6 months to 3 years:
– Having been fined for administrative violations of the provisions in this Article or under Articles 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, and 200 of the Penal Code, or having been convicted of any of these offenses, not having the conviction expunged and still committing violations;
Article 189 pertains to the act of illicitly transporting goods or currency across the borders of Vietnam.
Article 190 pertains to the act of producing, trading prohibited goods within the territory of Vietnam.
Article 191 pertains to the act of storing or transporting prohibited goods within the territory of Vietnam.
Articles 192, 193, 194, 195 pertain to the acts of producing and trading counterfeit goods within the territory of Vietnam.
Article 196 pertains to speculative activities.
Article 200 pertains to tax evasion.
– The illegal object is an artifact or an antique.
Level 2 of smuggling in Vietnam
If the offense falls into one of the following cases, the penalty is a fine ranging from 300,000,000 VND to 1,500,000,000 VND or imprisonment from 3 to 7 years:
a) Organized crime;
b) Has a professional nature;
c) The illegal object is valued from 300,000,000 VND to below 500,000,000 VND;
d) Illegitimate gains ranging from 100,000,000 VND to below 500,000,000 VND;
e) The illegal object is a national treasure;
f) Exploiting one’s position or authority;
g) Exploiting the name of an agency or organization;
h) Committing the offense two times or more;
i) Dangerous recidivism.
Level 3 of smuggling in Vietnam
If the offense falls into one of the following cases, the penalty is a fine ranging from 1,500,000,000 VND to 5,000,000,000 VND or imprisonment from 7 to 15 years:
a) The illegal object is valued from 500,000,000 VND to below 1,000,000,000 VND;
b) Illegitimate gains range from 500,000,000 VND to below 1,000,000,000 VND.
Level 4 of smuggling in Vietnam
If the offense falls into one of the following cases, the penalty is imprisonment from 12 to 20 years:
a) The illegal object is valued at 1,000,000,000 VND or more;
b) Illegitimate gains amount to 1,000,000,000 VND or more;
c) Exploitation during war, natural disasters, epidemics, or other extremely difficult circumstances.
Supplementary penalty
The offender may also be fined from 20,000,000 VND to 100,000,000 VND, prohibited from holding positions, practicing a certain profession, or performing specific tasks for a period of 1 to 5 years, or have a portion or the entirety of their assets confiscated.
In the case where the offender is a commercial legal entity
a) Engaging in the behavior specified in paragraph 1 of this Article with goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, gemstones valued from 200,000,000 VND to below 300,000,000 VND; goods valued below 200,000,000 VND but are artifacts or antiques; goods, Vietnamese currency, foreign currency, precious metals, gemstones valued from 100,000,000 VND to below 200,000,000 VND but have been fined for administrative violations of the provisions in this Article or under Articles 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, and 200 of the Penal Code, or have been convicted of any of these offenses, not having the conviction expunged and still committing violations, shall be fined from 300,000,000 VND to 1,000,000,000 VND;
b) Committing offenses falling under the cases specified in points a, b, c, d, e, h, and i of paragraph 2 of this Article shall be fined from 1,000,000,000 VND to 3,000,000,000 VND;
c) Committing offenses falling under the cases specified in paragraph 3 of this Article shall be fined from 3,000,000,000 VND to 7,000,000,000 VND;
d) Committing offenses falling under the cases specified in paragraph 4 of this Article shall be fined from 7,000,000,000 VND to 15,000,000,000 VND or have operations suspended for a period from 6 months to 3 years;
e) Committing offenses falling under the provisions of Article 79 of this Code shall have operations permanently suspended;
f) Commercial legal entities may also be fined from 50,000,000 VND to 300,000,000 VND, prohibited from doing business, prohibited from operating in certain fields, or prohibited from raising capital for a period of 1 to 3 years.
