Police dismantle 2 large fake coffee operations in Vietnam’s An Giang

One of the operations was owned by Do Van Quy, 41, a resident of the province’s Phu Huu Commune.

Operating under the brand name ‘Van Quy 7777,’ the business had been registered and licensed since 2016, according to local police.

The case came to light after investigators gathered information from multiple sources and carried out a raid on Quy’s premises.

During the search, officers seized nearly 80 kilograms of fake packaged ground coffee, more than one metric ton of roasted and processed corn and soybeans mixed with flavorings, along with machinery, production tools, food additives, packaging materials, accounting records, and sales invoices.

Quy later admitted to investigators that he had sold around 10 metric tons of fake ground coffee.

Initial findings showed that from early 2024, as prices of genuine coffee rose sharply, he used roasted corn and soybeans mixed with flavorings and food additives to produce the counterfeit products.

They were packaged in 500-gram bags and sold at prices ranging from VND80,000 (US$3.1) to VND100,000 ($3.9) per kilogram.

Police collected samples on two occasions and sent them to the Quality Assurance and Testing Center 3 for testing.

The results detected no caffeine, providing sufficient grounds to classify the products as fake coffee.

The second fake coffee operation was linked to Tran Kim Chen, 56, who resided in Tan Chau Ward and operated a coffee roasting facility there, while maintaining a warehouse in Long Phu Ward.

Authorities said the operation had existed for about five years.

During an urgent inspection of Chen’s premises, police seized numerous machines and tools used to roast and flavor corn and soybeans for fake ground coffee processing.

Confiscated items included 3.1 metric tons of corn and soybeans mixed with additives and partially roasted, 800 kilograms of corn and soybeans being roasted, and 158 kilograms of fake roasted ground coffee.

Officers also seized 600 kilograms of the sweetener sodium cyclamate, more than 1.2 metric tons of caramel coloring, around 60 kilograms of vanilla taro–flavored food additives, and nearly 30 metric tons of unprocessed corn and soybeans.

During questioning, investigators identified a business link between Chen and Quy.

Chen admitted to selling corn to Quy for about VND15 million ($585) per metric ton and soybeans for around VND45 million ($1,755) per metric ton.

Using these materials, Quy mixed, ground, and packaged them as fake coffee, selling the products to distribution agents for VND50 million ($1,950) to VND60 million ($2,340) per metric ton.

They were then resold on the market at prices ranging from VND80 million ($3,120) to VND100 million ($3,900) per metric ton.

Based on collected evidence and statements from Quy and Chen, authorities said the two suspects show signs of producing and trading counterfeit food products under Article 193 of Vietnam’s Penal Code.

An Giang police are continuing to investigate and finalize case files for handling these suspects in accordance with the law.