Police on Phu Quoc, an island off the southern Vietnamese province of Kien Giang, have arrested a man for hiring people to destroy more than 78,000 square meters of local forest.

Officers confirmed on Tuesday they had apprehend Duong Quoc Nang, 44, for deforestation.

Police investigation showed that Nang had hired a group of people to chop down trees within a 23,590-square-meter forest patch at the Phu Quoc National Park to make room for his farm in late 2009.

The violation was detected by local forest protection officers, and Nang was required to make a written commitment that he would not repeat such wrongdoing.

However, the man continued having people destroy the same forest stretch in late 2018.

An examination carried out by local authorities in February 2019 showed that 12,520 square meters of forest had been cut down.

Nang repeated the offense later the same year, with an examination in February 2020 revealing that 78,520 square meters of forest had been destroyed.

All of the logged trees had been burned down following the deforestation.

Authorities later concluded that the affected section of forest belonged to the Phu Quoc National Park, thus Nang was arrested for his serious offense.

In accordance with the Penal Code, deforestation is punishable by a fine worth VND50-500 million (US$2,100-21,000) or jail terms from one to 15 years, depending on the severity of each case.

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