File picture: Noel Kokou Tadegnon/Reuters
Vietnamese police and customs officials in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam, confiscated an estimated seven tonnes of smuggled ivory on March 27.
According to the local Vietnamese news site, Nguoi Lao Dong News, the ivory, which came from Africa, was found hidden in shipping containers which were declared to contain a shipment of peanuts.
Although trade in ivory remains illegal in Vietnam, trafficking is widespread with pangolin scales, rhino horn and tiger carcasses often confiscated at the country’s ports of entry.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs said the containers arrived at Nam Dinh Vu Port in Hai Phong from Angola, via Singapore, on the same day.
Officials said the name of the cargo was in an unfamiliar language and the information linked to the recipient was found to be incorrect.
Authorities say that this new technique is being adopted by criminal syndicates to evade detection.
This is the largest seizure of its kind in Vietnamese history.
Cites (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), a global agreement among governments to regulate or ban international trade in species under threat, lists ivory as one of the most trafficked animal products in the world, pushing elephant species to the brink of extinction.
The bust comes a month after Hai Phong customs officials participated in the Saving Threatened Wildlife Project educational workshop which saw members develop skills in wildlife protection using new technology and tools designed to combat crime in ports.
In February, a Vietnamese court sentenced a man to 13 years in prison for trafficking close to 10 tons of endangered animal parts, rhino horn and ivory from Africa.
Current Affairs
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