Vietnam seizes 7 tonnes of smuggled ivory
Tuesday, March 21, 2023, 16:20 GMT+7
The police and customs forces in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam on Monday morning confiscated around seven metric tons of ivory smuggled from Africa.
The tusks were hidden in shipping containers that had been declared to contain peanuts.
These containers arrived at Nam Dinh Vu Port in Hai Phong from Angola, transiting in Singapore, the General Department of Vietnam Customs said on the same day.
The name of the cargo was described in an uncommon language, adding that the information linked to the recipient was found to be incorrect.
This is a new and sophisticated illegal practice being adopted in order to evade authorities’ detection, the forces said.
Also, this is the largest seizure of smuggled wildlife items in Hai Phong so far.
The seized tusks are included in CITES’ Appendix I, which lists the world’s most endangered flora and fauna.
CITES, or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, is a global agreement among governments to regulate or ban international trade in species under threat, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs is working with relevant agencies to further investigate the case.
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