The case of confectionery piled up like a mountain at the landfill: The police intervened to clarify because of the stench

On February 4, social networks appeared images of confectionery dumped into a "mountain" in a landfill in La Phu Industrial Park (La Phu commune, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi).

The image shows that the confectionery dumped in the landfill has many different types, most of which are still intact in the box. It is worth mentioning that many biscuit products are still packed in whole boxes, with both Vietnamese and Chinese characters printed on the outside of the box.

Prior to the above information, on February 5, Mr. Nguyen Trung Thuan - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoai Duc district - said that the People's Committee of Hoai Duc district had asked La Phu commune and related units to verify who dumped the above pile of sweets into the landfill as well as trace the origin of the above confectionery.

Mr. Thuan said that the district government's view is that it will go to the same incident and handle it thoroughly if there is a violation. Currently, the district has also directed local authorities to quickly transport the confectionery dumped at the above yard to the gathering place according to regulations.

On the evening of February 5, a leader of the People's Committee of La Phu commune (Hoai Duc, Hanoi) said that regarding the incident of the appearance of a "mountain" of confectionery in the garbage dump in the commune, the local government initially recorded and reported to relevant units for inspection and handling.

"The People's Committee of Hoai Duc district has also issued a document directing the commune to clarify the matter, we are conducting verification and will report when there is an official conclusion," the leader added.

La Phu commune (Hoai Duc, Hanoi) is one of the famous craft villages in the North specializing in the production and trading of confectionery.

Also related to the case, the leaders of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade assigned the market management force to participate with relevant units to inspect, clarify the roles and responsibilities of the units and have appropriate handling directions.

Mr. Vuong Ba Dung, Captain of Market Management Team No. 24 (Hanoi Market Surveillance Department) said that regarding the information that mountains of "strange" confectionery were discharged in the middle of La Phu village, the People's Committee of Hoai Duc district has directed the market management force to coordinate inspection, clarify the above content.

According to Mr. Dung, in the past, the inspection and management of the market in La Phu commune was still held regularly, but after this incident, it will be tightened even more. "Right this morning (7/2) we went to check and detected the violation, which is in the process of completing the handling," Mr. Dung said.

Commenting on the huge number of confectionery thrown away in La Phu commune in recent days, Mr. Dung said that the reason may come from the fact that before the Lunar New Year, following the direction of the city and Hoai Duc district, the Market Management Team No. 24 coordinated to inspect food production and business establishments in La Phu commune.

Here, the functional forces focus on clarifying the origin, labels, brands, expiration dates... of the product. It may be due to close inspection that these products cannot circulate on the market, leading to the expiration date. "Therefore, business establishments have discharged this amount of unqualified confectionery into the environment," Mr. Dung said.

According to Mr. Dung, during the inspection on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2025 (from December 19, 2024 to February 6, 2025), there were 19 confectionery and food production and trading establishments in La Phu commune that were handled. In which, 18 establishments were handled for administrative violations with a fine of VND 992 million; 1 case was transferred to the investigation agency due to a serious violation of producing counterfeit goods being food.

In the morning of February 6, it was reported that excavators and specialized equipment were mobilized to collect and destroy the above number of confectionery. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of La Phu commune, shared that in addition to households specializing in confectionery production, there are also households engaged in trade (i.e. importing goods for trading). Units that do not need to buy, sell, distribute confectionery anymore or do not consume it all, so they put it in the landfill and this is also normal. But because of the large number of confectionery, the garbage collection unit did not handle it in time, leading to congestion.