Hanoi’s market surveillance authority on February 9 seized 100,000 face masks owned by a Chinese national with no information on origin at a villa in Van Phu residential area, Ha Dong district.

Hanoi’s market surveillance authority on February 9 seized 50 cardboard boxes of face masks owned by a Chinese national with no information on origin.

The Chinese man later said he rented this villa to store face masks which would later be sold in China.

This was not the first time that Vietnamese authority detained people of storing face masks in large quantities for illegally export to China.

On February 4, Hanoi’s market surveillance agency seized 120,000 medical masks with no information on origin, which were en route to Lao Cai province to be exported to China.

In Ho Chi Minh City, market surveillance authorities checked a warehouse of Saigon Cargo Service Corporation located at Tan Binh district and found Chinese-bound 150,000 face masks without any invoice.

Deputy Director of Hanoi’s Martket Surveillance Department Nguyen Cong San said face masks are fast becoming a much sought-after commodity for smuggling to China due to the spreading of the new coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak.

With the current price of VND60,000 – 70,000 (US$2.58 – 3.01) per 50-piece box in Vietnam, smugglers would gain huge profits if they can successfully smuggle these face masks to China, San added.

Huge demand for face masks in China also led to an increase of 260% in export of that product from Vietnam via official trade channels in January compared to the average number of 2019, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC).

In two border gates of Huu Nghi and Chi Mai in Lang Son province, over 4.2 millions of medical face masks were exported to China from January 29 – February 3, while hand sanitizers and face masks were fast falling in short supply during this period in Vietnam on fears of the outbreak.