Ho Chi Minh City market watchdog officials and police officers Monday conducted a surprise raid at a warehouse in Binh Thanh District, where Chinese goods are reportedly gathered before they are labeled with Vietnamese brand names, and found nearly 50,000 allegedly smuggled products. The inspection was conducted after coverage by Tuoi Tre that day revealed that the poor-quality Chinese goods stored in the warehouse on Nguyen Xi Street are given Vietnamese labels to dupe consumers into believing that they are locally manufactured. Besides the illicit products, including floor cleaning mops, knives, massage machines, and chargeable lamps reported in the article, the district’s market management agency and police also found a number of kitchen utensils and glues of dubious origins in the facility owned by Dat Vang Vietnam Co Ltd. All of the products were confiscated. More than 27,000 products have customs declarations but were stored without labels and packaging. The customs declarations show that the goods were imported via the Tan Thanh border gate in the northern province of Lang Son for only VND10,000 to VND16,000 an item, while they are sold to Vietnamese customers at five times higher rates. Company director Dinh Nguyen Hong admitted that all of the products are manufactured in China, and she has bought them from different sources, while only a small proportion is officially imported. The products are distributed to all of the provinces in the eastern and southwestern areas, she said, adding that the fairs and exhibitions held in major cities are also good consumption spots. Many Tuoi Tre readers also responded immediately to the newspaper after reading the report about the Chinese goods disguised as Vietnamese-made, saying they have fallen victim to the fraudulent products. Hung, a resident in Tan Phu District, said he bought a set of three Thai Nguyen-branded knives from an exhibition in Phu Tho Stadium for VND80,000. “But the knives became rusty after three days, although I have never used them,” he said.