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.
On April 21, 2024, Mohammadi Mukhtar, a 31-year-old Afghan, entered Vietnam from Cambodia using a tourist visa that expired seven months later. Upon his return, he allegedly conspired with two others, Du Duy Trung and Le Dinh Chinh, to smuggle 56 of his fellow countrymen into Cambodia illegally.
Mukhtar's scheme involved paying a woman to secure tourist visas for the Afghans, while Trung handled the payment of VND4.5 million ($174) per person to get them past the border. Chinh was tasked with driving the refugees to the unofficial crossing points. Over a two-month period from February to March 2025, the trio orchestrated the illegal departures of 20 Afghans on four separate occasions.
In total, the group successfully smuggled 56 Afghans into Cambodia between December 2024 and April 2025, receiving over VND487 million ($18,800) in payment from the refugees. The security agency of Ho Chi Minh City Police subsequently issued an arrest warrant for Mukhtar, Trung, and Chinh on June 13, 2025.
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