Being assigned to manage and protect a 72-km-long maritime boundary area in the districts of Giao Thuy, Hai Hau, and Nghia Hung, over the years, the Provincial Border Guard (PBG) of Nam Dinh has always successfully accomplished this task to contribute to maintaining political security and social order and safety within the province. However, crimes, especially human trafficking, drug trafficking, trade frauds, and Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) operations in the area of the PBG’s responsibility have been still complex. Meanwhile, the PBG’s manpower and equipment have been limited, thereby posing great challenges to the work of crime prevention and control at sea. Against that backdrop, the PBG’s Party Committee and Command have been taking synchronised measures for crime prevention and control in the maritime border area to contribute to maintaining political security, social order and safety, and a peaceful life for the people.

The PBG closely cooperates with other forces in conducting patrols

Crime prevention and control constitute an important task aimed at protecting national security and ensuring social order and safety. Thus, first of all, the PBG’s Party Committee and Command have always attached great value to strengthening all-level party committees and commands’ leadership and direction over this important task. Under Resolution 669-NQ/ĐU, dated 4 September 2018, by the Border Guard Force Party Committee, on “leadership over the improved quality and effectiveness of drug and crime prevention and control, building a comprehensively strong specialised force in charge of drug and crime prevention and control in the new situation, the PBG Party Committee has issued a specialised resolution and required the drug and crime prevention and control force, border guard posts, and Border Guard Flotilla 2 to include this task in their yearly resolutions and develop action plans/programs with specific, feasible goals, requirements, and measures in accordance with the areas of their responsibility. Emphasis has been placed on raising the quality of situational grasp, research, and forecast, opportunely giving advice on attacking and fighting crimes of all forms, and building a strong specialised force in charge of drug and crime prevention and control. In the process, the PBG has attached significance to promoting the role and responsibility of party committees, commands, cadres, and party members and aligning each party committee member’s responsibility with the results of crime prevention and control. The PBG has directed its offices and units to step up crime prevention and control, with preventive measures as the main approach, proactively detect and crack down on criminal organisations and rings as well as illegal acts.

In addition, the PBG has directed its offices and units to enhance political and ideological education to promote troops’ political steadfastness, courage, determination, professionalism, and willpower against material temptations and negative social impacts. Due attention has been paid to stepping up inspection and supervision work to opportunely, strictly handle negligence, a lack of responsibility, and acts of aiding and abetting crimes among cadres and soldiers. As a result, cadres and soldiers of the PBG have always demonstrated great political steadfastness, a strong sense of responsibility, proactivity, creativity, and flexibility in fighting and suppressing crimes, excellently accomplishing all assigned missions.

Recently, there have been new, complex developments in criminality, together with an increase in hi-tech crimes. To successfully fulfil its tasks, the PBG has focused on raising the effectiveness of specialised measures, carrying out criminal investigations, attacking and suppressing crimes. In this regard, importance has been attached to improving the quality of crime-related forecast and grasp from afar, from the outside, and at sea, closely combining public border defence measures with secret specialised measures and information provided by the people, and destroying criminal rings and gangs to prevent hot spots from being created. The PBG has exercised its direction over the building and employment of a secret force in charge of situational grasp from afar, improving the quality of basic investigation, screening, grasping, and profiling individuals under oversight and monitoring. It has effectively exploited technical means and equipment for reconnaissance to collect and verify information about criminal operations as the basis for developing proper combat projects and special investigations. Moreover, it has frequently closely collaborated with localities and relevant forces to enhance reconnaissance, patrol, and crime suppression at sea, strictly adhere to legal proceedings, and handle legal violations in the right way, thereby avoiding wrongful convictions or complaints. To achieve uniformity and avoid any overlaps in the performance of its tasks, the PBG has proactively designed and signed regulations on coordination with other forces and local authorities, establishing hot lines for cooperation in quickly, effectively dealing with emergencies.

To meet the increasingly high requirements of crime prevention and control in the maritime border area, the PBG has concentrated on building a comprehensively strong specialised force in charge of drug and crime prevention and control. In addition to enhancing education work to build troops’ political steadfastness, absolute loyalty to the Party, Fatherland, and people, and great resolve against difficulties, challenges, dangers, and crimes, over the years, the PBG has always well carried out the work of selection, training, and comprehensive professional competence development for the specialised force in charge of drug and crime prevention and control. At the same time, it has directed its offices and units to seriously maintain specialised training work and practise their combat readiness projects. Great weight has been added to enhancing specialised training and improving work style and methods for cadres and soldiers, particularly new graduates. Training work has been closely combined with the exchange of experiences in designing special investigations and skills to deal with each group of offenders. Notably, prior to each special investigation, the PBG has required its units to grasp criminals’ operating methods, tactics, and resistance capacity as well as weather conditions to design plans and projects for combat and suppression, anticipate possible situations, prepare remedial measures, and practise those plans and projects to ensure certain victory and absolute safety. After each special investigation, case, and plan, the PBG has conducted preliminary and final reviews to seriously draw lessons and multiply effective approaches.

Stepping up law propagation and dissemination among fishermen

A part from those above-mentioned measures, the PBG has stepped up propagation work to encourage the people to observe statutory regulations and actively take part in the fight against crimes. Offices and units of the PBG have closely collaborated with local party committees, authorities, and sectors to formulate and closely implement propagation plans. Emphasis has been placed on disseminating statutory regulations on drug and crime prevention and control, the Law on Vietnam Border Defence, and the Government’s Decree 71/2015/NĐ-CP, dated 3 September 2015, on management of activities of persons and vehicles in maritime boundary areas of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, strictly executing legal documents on protection of national sovereignty over seas, ecological environment, and national interests at sea. Consideration has been given to rendering troops and citizens fully aware of tactics of drug trafficking, human trafficking, smuggling, trade fraud, counterfeit goods trading, and IUU fishing. The PBG has required its offices and units to renew forms and methods of propagation, combine propagation on mass media and in conferences with distribution of leaflets to residential and docking areas, and carry out propagation via models, such as “border guard speakers”, “safe vessel groups”, “self-management teams for docking areas” to encourage the people to well implement the Party’s lines and the State’s laws and policies and actively take part in denouncing and fighting crimes. At the same time, households and vessel owners have been encouraged to sign commitments not to violating foreign seas for fishing or aiding and abetting illegal acts. In addition, the PBG has effectively realised the campaigns of “accompanying fishermen to reach out to the sea” and “building houses of unity”, actively taking part in eradicating temporary and dilapidated houses. Thanks to those activities, the PBG has cemented military - civilian unity, raising law-abiding awareness among its troops and citizens, turning the masses into its “ears and eyes” for the struggle against crimes of various types.

With its drastic, synchronised measures, since 2020, the PBG has launched and completed 5 special investigations into drug and human trafficking, implementing 71 specialised plans, arresting and prosecuting 77 offenders in 76 cases, seizing 16,000 synthetic drug tablets, 159.295 grams of synthetic drug, 20.417 grams of heroin, and many other exhibits, proposing tens of prosecutions against other types of crimes, thus being highly appreciated by higher echelons and local authorities and people. Bringing into play its recorded results and experiences, in the upcoming time, the PBG of Nam Dinh will continue to raise the quality of crime prevention and control to contribute to maintaining political security, social order and safety, national sovereignty, and border security at sea.

Sr. Col. PHAM VAN HOA

Commander of the PBG of Nam Dinh