Gold bandits hide in the forest waiting for opportunities
Immediately after Lao Dong Newspaper reported the situation of gold bandits setting up willingness and illegally mining gold in Vinh O protective forest (Vinh Linh district, Quang Tri province), local authorities, police forces and forest management boards organized inspections and handling.
Vinh O Forest is a protective forest area under the management of the Ben Hai River Basin Protection Forest Management Board. Here, this unit has established 3 checkpoints in sub-areas 582, 583 (Vinh O commune) and 575H (Vinh Ha commune) to prevent forest encroachment.
However, after the April 30 - May 1 holiday, the authorities received a report that about 20 people from other provinces had sneaked back to the Vinh O protective forest area to continue illegally mining gold. In that situation, on the morning of May 5, the force of 25 people from the Forest Protection Management Board and Vinh O Commune Police divided into teams to conduct field inspections.
According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hung - Director of the Ben Hai River Basin Protection Forest Management Board, during the patrol, the authorities discovered traces of shoes and food, showing that the subjects had returned to the forest area. Traces are concentrated in the Mixi and Khe De streams in sub-zone 583. When the patrol approached, a group of 4 subjects quickly fled.
"The authorities will continue to stay in the area and organize checkpoints to prevent the subjects from continuing to illegally operate in the forest" - Mr. Hung said.
Gold mines not destroyed, gold bandits still stick to the forest
Mr. Ho Xuan home - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Quang Tri province said that currently, there are still 9 illegal gold mines in the forest area of Vinh O and Vinh Ha communes that were dug before. However, due to the lack of specialized equipment, the authorities have not been able to fully survey the depth, structure and level of danger of these tunnels.
The existence of the tunnels still puts Vinh O forest area at risk of serious safety, while creating conditions for subjects to return to repeat illegal mining, affecting resources and security and order in the locality.
Faced with the above situation, on April 24, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Environment proposed that the Provincial People's Committee direct the Provincial Military Command to coordinate with the People's Committee of Vinh Linh district and related sectors to develop a plan to collapse and completely destroy illegal mines to completely handle the above situation.
Mr. Tran Van Tang - Chairman of Vinh O Commune People's Committee said that the current weather is dry and favorable for people to hide in the forest waiting for opportunities. "Currently, the commune police are closely coordinating with the forest protection force to monitor and promptly handle hot spots. If the gold mines are destroyed, the dream of a change of life of gold bandits will end. We propose to destroy the gold mines to protect local security and order," said Mr. Tang.
Regarding the incident, since the beginning of April 2025, a group of reporters from Lao Dong Newspaper have directly approached Khe De area (sub-zone 583) and recorded the scene of gold bandits setting up about 20 willinglies, digging mountains, and starting illegally mining machines. Through contact, some subjects revealed that local people were at the forefront and organizing activities.
After Lao Dong Newspaper reported, the People's Committee of Quang Tri province directed functional agencies to investigate and clarify the responsibility of collectives and individuals for the rampant gold bandits in Vinh O protective forest.
Currently, patrolling and searching work is still being maintained by the forces, however, if the root cause is not handled by completely destroying the gold mines, the risk of recurrence is very high.
