Southeast Asia: Ongoing smuggling and the impact on vessel operations
Goods awaiting export by container at Ho Chi Minh. Image: VICT
6 December 2022
From drugs, fuel and consumer goods to migrants and refugees, smugglers are active throughout Southeast Asia, yet the impact on commercial shipping for the time being has generally been inconsequential.
By Thomas Timlen, Southeast Asia Analyst
There is a significant degree of smuggling activity taking place on the waters of Southeast Asia. Crime syndicates and human traffickers are continuously moving a wide range of illicit cargoes throughout the region including large quantities of narcotics, fuel, consumer goods, weapons as well as refugees, migrants and persons entrapped and relocated against their will.
Law enforcement agencies in the region intercept shipments of methamphetamine, diesel and cooking oil, heroin, cannabis, ecstasy, tobacco, endangered/protected species alongside illegal transports of people on a regular basis. While the majority of the smuggling activity is conducted on small craft such as motorboats and fishing trawlers, there are situations in which contraband is moved on board unknowing cargo vessels, in particular, drug concealments within containers.
Recent incidents of this nature have involved the discovery of heroin and methamphetamine shipped out of Vietnam. Fourteen kilos of heroin that had been concealed in boxes of green bean biscuits were discovered by customs officials on arrival at a container terminal in Hong Kong. Hong Kong customs also detected a shipment of eight kilos of methamphetamine that was concealed in a consignment of biscuit gift sets when it arrived in another container shipment. The estimated market value of the two seizures is USD 17 million. Four persons suspected of being involved with the two drug shipments were arrested in Hong Kong.
Subsequent seizures of methamphetamine and heroin that originated in containers shipped out of Vietnam and then intercepted in Hong Kong involved concealments within seasoning powders and skincare products. These too resulted with the arrests of suspects in Hong Kong. Common to all of these cases is the fortunate aspect that there have been no indications that the vessels that transported the containers faced any delays or fines.
These cases illustrate the prevailing actuality that commercial cargo vessels rarely suffer consequences related to the ongoing smuggling activity taking place in Southeast Asia. Whilst there is some potential that cargo vessels could be called upon to assist with search and rescue operations when small craft illegally transporting refugees and migrants are in distress at sea, the frequency of such operations in Southeast Asia is far lower than what has been seen for related activity in the Mediterranean.
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