Hanoi market management officers and environmental police from Dong Da District found and seized two tons of snakehead fish originating from China after they stopped a truck en route from Quang Ninh to the capital city on Tuesday.

The driver, Vu Van Son, 30, confessed to police that the fish was from China, which he bought at the border gates in Lang Son and Mong Cai.

The fish cost only VND20,000 – VND25,000 a kilogram, but Son said they will fetch up to VND100,000 a kg at markets across Hanoi.

The fish was destroyed after the seizure, police said.

Last month, Hanoi police also uncovered two incidents of illegally transporting nearly 10,000 catfish, snakehead fish, and frogs from China to Vietnam.

Specifically, on May 1, police checked a truck driven by Nguyen Van Hoc, 40, in Kim Anh Commune, Soc Son District, and found 9,360 catfish stored in cartons.

The owner of the cartons, Nguyen Van Thinh, 26, confessed to buying the breeds from China at VND90,000 a kg.

On the same day, police also found 133 snakehead fish, weighing a total of 149kg, and 360 frogs, weighing 72kg, from a truck owned by Nguyen Xuan Tu, 31, hailing from Hai Phong.

Tu said he bought the animals from China without any receipts or papers.

Recently, it has also been reported that Chinese sturgeon has been smuggled to Hanoi en masse.

Up to 15 tons of the fish are illicitly imported into the country on a daily basis, while two to four tons of these products are then transported to Ho Chi Minh City via air freight, according to the Vietnam Coldwater Fish Farming Association.