On July 29th, the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security announced that during the expanded investigation into the case involving the export of durian to China, police investigators from the Ministry of Public Security have charged four individuals involved in the case with criminal offenses such as bribery and forgery of documents while performing their duties. These individuals have been temporarily detained.
This case is part of an ongoing investigation by the Ministry of Public Security into incidents that occurred at the Testing and Certification & Quality Service Center, NhoNho Technology Co., Ltd., Thủy Fruit Co., Ltd., and related entities and individuals. The case involves durian exports to China.
Surveys indicate that Huang Zhong, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (now Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), and Ruan Guangxiao, Deputy Director of Planting and Plant Protection, allegedly used their positions to implement policies that violated laws. There is also evidence indicating that they granted "sub-letting" privileges, which are additional administrative approvals, in order to secure illegal benefits for interest groups, thereby obtaining extremely large personal gains.
Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's former Deputy Minister Huang Zhong, Yue Tong She
The two were also suspected of interfering and instructing their subordinates to issue false testing certificates and planting area codes, as well as illegally trading planting area codes and packaging factory codes.
The investigating authorities stated that the aforementioned illegal actions seriously violated the legal rights and interests of durian growers and export enterprises, caused significant losses to the national finance, and also damaged the reputation and brand image of Vietnamese agricultural products.
Based on the investigation results and the evidence obtained, the police investigation department of the Ministry of Public Security has filed a public prosecution against Huang Zhong and Ruan Guangxiao under Article 354 of the Criminal Law, on suspicion of bribery, and has implemented temporary detention.
In addition, the Ministry of Public Security also charged and imposed temporary detention on Nguyen Thi Ha, the director of the 7th Plant Quarantine Branch of the Plant Protection Bureau, and Chu Thi Thu Thanh, the director of the Plant Quarantine Station at the Friendship Port in Lang Son Province, on suspicion of forging documents while performing their duties, in accordance with Article 359 of the Criminal Law.
The Ministry of Public Security stated that the investigation authorities will continue to expand the scope of the case investigation, clarify the illegal activities of relevant national management agencies, testing institutions, and those responsible for issuing codes related to planting areas and packaging factories. They will propose handling suggestions in accordance with the law, and simultaneously carry out asset recovery efforts to minimize the losses suffered by the state.
According to the 'Vietnam Express', last year, the police arrested eight people related to this case. The organizations involved include a quality inspection and certification service under the Ministry of Agriculture, several technology companies, and fruit companies. China is Vietnam's largest destination for durian exports. From 2021 to 2025, Vietnam exported more than 3 million metric tons of fresh durian and nearly 190,000 metric tons of frozen durian. The Chinese market accounted for over 95% of the total export volume.
