Hanoi - A Vietnamese marine police officer was dismissed for accepting a bribe of 60,000 dollars from an oil tanker owner, a police official confirmed Tuesday. The police department of the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau disarmed Major Vo Van Ly, 43, from the provincial marine department, according to the chief police officer Do Minh Dan.
"The Ministry of Public Security made the decision over the weekend and we made the announcement on Monday," Dan said.
Ly and his subordinate, Lieutenant Vo Chi Thanh, reportedly accepted 1 billion dong (60,000 dollars) from the owner of an oil tanker that was hauling 70 tons of oil without the proper manifests on May 19.
The Thanh Cong 1 tanker belonged to a company in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang.
The Communist Party's provincial committee decided to revoke the two officers' party memberships on June 3.
The police department had dismissed Thanh in June, but not Ly, because it did not have the sole authority to cashier officers with the rank of major and above.
The case was transferred to the Investigation Department, which will charge them with receiving bribes.
According to the penal code of Vietnam, anyone caught receiving a bribe of 300 million dong (17,600 dollars) and up can face a punishment from 20 years of jail time to the death penalty.
In April, four Hanoi police officers were suspended from duty just hours after a local news website posted a video clip showing them taking bribes from motorists who had violated traffic laws.
Police are shown stopping motorbike drivers not wearing helmets or going the wrong direction on one-way streets. They then accepted up to 300,000 dong from each of the drivers before letting them go.
