Customs and police officers of the northern city of Hai Phong on October 21 uncovered and seized 2.4 tonnes of elephant ivory smuggled into Vietnam.

The ivories were hidden in the packages which were previously declared as containing shellfish shells.

The smuggled items were transported to Vietnam’s Hai Phong port on October 10 from Malaysia by ship P.T.L of Singapore. The freighting invoice recipient is the Hoang Gia Exim company of Hai Phong.

A week earlier, Hai Phong port’s customs officers also seized a shipment of 2.1 tonnes of ivory and 145 kg of tortoise shell trafficked in the country. The items are banned for trading as regulated by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).-VNA