Discovered a 'huge' warehouse of sophisticated smuggled goods from China, linked to many TikTok accounts

The Market Management Force (QLTT) of Quang Ninh province has just discovered a warehouse containing more than 47,000 violating products, operated by foreign software, linked to hundreds of TikTok accounts and goods sourced from China.

Huge amount of smuggled goods related to e-commerce - Photo: QLTT

According to information from the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ), on July 8, Market Management Team No. 1, Quang Ninh Province Market Management Department inspected a warehouse located in the premises of Dong Tam Trading Joint Stock Company, Mong Cai 3 Ward, Quang Ninh Province.

This is the location that Mr. Do Van Quang (residing in Mong Cai 2 ward) rented before he passed away on June 26, 2025.

At the time of inspection, the inspection team discovered that the warehouse contained a total of 47,127 violating products, including: 16,166 smuggled cosmetic products with a total value of about 1.1 billion VND; 15,511 smuggled goods worth about 80 million VND; and 15,450 products of unknown origin, worth about 65 million VND. The total value of the violating shipment is estimated at up to 1.245 billion VND.

Notably, according to Mr. Pham Van Cong (Mr. Quang's brother-in-law), this warehouse was rented by Mr. Quang for a Chinese man named A PIN to use as a place to store goods.

The warehouse lease was signed on June 1, just a few weeks before Mr. Quang passed away. Mr. Cong confirmed that the goods currently in the warehouse did not belong to Mr. Quang or himself.

Through checking the warehouse management system, the inspection team determined that this was a transit point for a series of orders placed through many different TikTok accounts, with goods imported from the e-commerce site 1688.com (China).

The warehouse management software is programmed in Chinese, developed and managed by Chinese people, and is not integrated with domestic management systems.

Warehouse staff are only responsible for printing available bills of lading to send to the delivery unit.

The software system recorded transactions from February 15, 2025 with a total amount of about 12 million yuan.

However, because the data is entirely in a foreign language and there is no mechanism to link with the domestic e-commerce system, it is not possible to retrieve the identities of the related TikTok accounts, as well as the total number of goods sold or the profits earned.

Authorities inspect smuggled goods at the warehouse in violation - Photo: QLTT

"This is a typical case showing that smuggling methods are increasingly sophisticated, hiding behind social networking platforms and cross-border software systems to avoid being traced.

The method of operating "anonymous" warehouses, connecting multiple accounts and controlling remotely is posing a big challenge for authorities in inspecting and monitoring e-commerce activities," the authorities said.

Market Management Team No. 1 has temporarily detained all the goods to continue investigating and clarifying the violators. The incident also raises urgent requirements for controlling warehouse management technology, improving the capacity to monitor digital platforms, and coordinating between market management, cybersecurity, and customs in the context of increasingly complex cross-border e-commerce.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/phat-hien-kho-hang-khung-nhap-lau-tinh-vi-tu-trung-quoc-lien-ket-voi-nhieu-tai-khoan-tiktok-20250709135531356.htm