JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

4.2 kg of ivory tusks found in package from France

4.2 kg of ivory tusks found in package from France

Tuesday, February 18, 2014, 12:25 GMT+7

The Express Delivery Customs Sub-department of Ho Chi Minh City has discovered three elephant tusk segments weighing 4.2 kg hidden in a package of clothes sent from France.

>> Smugglers of 2.4 tons of elephant tusks sentenced >> Vietnam seizes 2 tons of smuggled elephant tusks The package, weighing 5.8 kg, was intended for a consignee in Hanoi, but due to a mistake by the airfreight transporter, it was delivered to HCMC, the sub-department reported on Tuesday.

Of the three tusk segments, two are 45 cm long with a maximum circumference of 15 cm; the other is 33.5 cm long with a maximum circumference of 33 cm.

The total value of these tusk segments is estimated at VND2 billion (US$96,000).

The discovery was made on February 12, when the sub-department of Ho Chi Minh City opened the package for inspection after noticing suspicious signs.

The package was declared as containing clothing by the consignor, but customs found items they believed to be ivory tusks hidden among the clothes in the package.

Samples of these items were sent to the Tropical Biological Institute under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology for testing and on Tuesday, the institute confirmed that the samples are ivory tusks originating from Africa.         African ivory tusk is listed in the World’s Red Book and Vietnam officially banned the trade of elephant tusks in 1992, customs officers said.

The HCMC Express Delivery Customs Sub-department has sealed the tusks for handling in accordance with applicable regulations.

On December 12, 2013, the HCMC People’s Court sentenced Le Van Tu, 44, the director of a city-based Thai Minh Import and Export Co Ltd, and his deputy to 3 years in jail each for smuggling 158 pieces of ivory tusks weighing more than 2.4 tons.

By far the biggest seizure of elephant tusks in Vietnam occurred in March 2009 when customs officers in northern Hai Phong city discovered nearly seven tons of the goods in a container shipped from Tanzania, a country in East Africa.

Tuoitrenews

More

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Vietnamese youngster travels back in time with clay miniatures

Each work is a scene caught by Dung and kept in his memories through his journeys across Vietnam

Latest news