Authorities in Vietnam’s Central Highlands province of Lam Dong have seized 13 large foam boxes of strawberries, allegedly originating from China, smuggled to its capital city of Da Lat by air.

Police in Lam Dong’s Duc Trong District said on Monday that they were looking for the owner of the aforementioned strawberries, whose packages carried Chinese characters.

The packets did not have stamps and labels in Vietnamese as well as expiry dates in accordance with Vietnamese law.

The 13 foam boxes of strawberries, weighing 214 kilograms in total, were discovered at Lien Khuong Airport in Duc Trong at around 10:00 pm on Sunday, when the economic police of the district coordinated with the airport security forces to inspect its arrival area.

Upon the detection, neither invoices nor proof of origin was included in the products.

Through initial investigation, local authorities determined that the buyers of the confiscated strawberries were retail strawberry traders in Da Lat. 

Strawberries contained in Chinese packages were found at Lien Khuong Airport in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, April 25, 2021. Photo: Quang Thanh / Tuoi Tre

The strawberries are being checked for their pesticide content and other indicators.

This is not the first time the Duc Trong police have discovered such a large quantity of strawberries of Chinese origin smuggled to Da Lat by air.

In July 2020, officials seized 600 foam boxes of Chinese strawberries which had been transferred from Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi to Lien Khuong Airport before being transported by car to Da Lat.

The strawberries had pesticide residues three times higher than the allowable limit and remained fresh after 22 days without refrigeration.