Authority seized 2.2 tonnes of tusks smuggled into Vietnam from Nigeria on August 21 (Photo: vnexpress.net) Local police on August 21 seized 2.2 tonnes of tusks smuggled into Vietnam from Nigeria.
The tusks were allegedly brought into Vietnam by Da Nang-based Van An Company from Mozambique and were hidden inside three imported timber cargo containers.
The company declared that the three containers only carried imported timber.
Nguyen Quang Lang, head of the Da Nang Customs Gate Unit, said the tusks arrived at the port just a few days after local police and customs had already seized a Van An Company shipment containing one tonne of tusks and rhino horns on August 13.
The earlier smuggled items were found hidden inside fake marble as part of a stone shipment. Each fake marble slab contained dozens of elephant tusks or rhino horns.
Lang said the three containers seized on August 21 have been resealed. The investigative unit of the Ministry of Public Security will conduct a complete investigation in the coming days.
International trade of elephant tusk and rhino horn is illegal in Vietnam. Both elephants and rhinos are endangered species and listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The anti-smuggling department of the General Directorate of Customs has already pressed charges against the Van An company for the August 13 shipment.-VNA
