Afghan visa overstayer in Vietnam faces prosecution for smuggling 56 compatriots into Cambodia

An Afghan man who overstayed his visa in Vietnam has been indicted along with two Vietnamese men for allegedly smuggling 56 compatriots into Cambodia for profit.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Procuracy recently issued an indictment prosecuting Mohammadi Mukhtar, 31, Du Duy Trung, 41, from Tay Ninh Province, and Le Dinh Chinh, 41, for organizing others' illegal exit from the country.

The indictment says Mukhtar entered Vietnam from Cambodia through the Moc Bai International Border Gate in Tay Ninh on April 21, 2024, on a tourist visa valid until July 10 that year. He stayed on after it expired.

During that time, he colluded with Trung and Chinh to send Afghans into Cambodia illegally through unofficial border crossings.

Fee at every step

In December 2024, Mukhtar agreed with a person named Ramozi Ahmad Hussain, whose background is unknown, to bring Afghans into Vietnam on tourist visas and then move them to Cambodia for VND7.5 million ($289) per person.

For those without Vietnamese visas, Mukhtar passed their passport details and portrait photos to an unidentified woman who handled their tourist visa applications, at $150 per person.

To get them across the border, Mukhtar struck a deal with Trung at VND4.5 million ($174) per person.

Trung then hired someone named Hung, whose identity is also unknown, to take them across for VND2.5 million ($96) each, and hired Chinh to drive them for VND900,000 ($35) per person.

Once the Afghans arrived in Vietnam, Mukhtar put them up in hotels and told Trung where they were. Trung then had Chinh pick them up by car and take them to the crossing area.

From February to March 2025, the three organized illegal exits to Cambodia for 20 Afghans on four occasions.

Between December 2024 and April 2025, they sent another 36 Afghans across through unofficial routes, but investigators could not establish who they were.

Bank statements show Mukhtar received more than VND487 million ($18,800) in fees from the Afghans.

On June 13, 2025, the security investigation agency of the Ho Chi Minh City Police ordered the arrest and detention of Mukhtar, Trung and Chinh for investigation.