More than 90kg of ivory worth over 4 billion VND (190,500USD) were seized last week at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, customs officers said.
The goods from unspecified locations in Africa included 39 tusks and 100 ivory handicraft items. They had been declared as food and successfully smuggled through several countries before arriving in Vietnam, the officers said, adding that the case was being investigated further.
Just a few days earlier, customs officers at the airport had discovered 77 elephant tusks weighing 110kg being smuggled into the country from Nigeria. This haul on June 10 was also worth more than 4 billion VND.
Ivory trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as well as Vietnamese law.-VNA
The goods from unspecified locations in Africa included 39 tusks and 100 ivory handicraft items. They had been declared as food and successfully smuggled through several countries before arriving in Vietnam, the officers said, adding that the case was being investigated further.
Just a few days earlier, customs officers at the airport had discovered 77 elephant tusks weighing 110kg being smuggled into the country from Nigeria. This haul on June 10 was also worth more than 4 billion VND.
Ivory trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as well as Vietnamese law.-VNA
