More than 88,500 cases of smuggling in first half of 2017

Authorities collected 7.9 trillion VND (347.5 million USD) from administrative fines, selling off confiscated smuggled goods, and tax arrears, 40 percent more than the previous year’s first half.

According to National Steering Committee 389, the majority of smuggled goods fall into categories of essential consumer goods, heavily taxed goods, or goods banned for import, such as cocaine, explosives, tobacco, cosmetics, petrol and gas, elephant tusks or rhino horns, among others.

Some notable cases include an interception of 7,800 foreign cigarette packs in the southern province of Long An, or confiscation of 26kg rhino horns and 6kg of elephant tusks in Hanoi, and apprehension of 20 ships illegally transporting 3.5 million litres of gas.

The information was released last week at a steering committee meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh.

The steering committee noted that smuggling continues unabated despite heightened efforts to stem it, especially in border areas, where criminals take advantage of hard-to-access locations and transporting the goods on hidden trails or along small streams sheltered by thick forest.

On the maritime front, smuggling of petrol and gas has been on the rise, the committee said, since Vietnam’s current gas price is higher than in some other countries in the region. The criminals’ favoured modus operandi is using foreign ships to transport oil and gas to Vietnam’s maritime borders and then splitting the stock among different Vietnamese fishing boats.

The Deputy PM said strict legislation must be adopted to “remove or reassign leaders showing signs of aiding and abetting smuggling, counterfeit products and trade fraud.”

He added that anti-smuggling efforts are “an important and permanent political duty to be carried out by all levels of the government,” and that there will be no “zero tolerance” in this matter.

The Deputy PM also said that attention must be focused on transnational criminal groups to protect domestic production.

“Culprits order goods from China, bring them back into the country, slap ‘Made in Vietnam’ labels on them and sell them to unsuspecting customers,” according to Le Hong Son, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People’s Committee and member of the Steering Committee 389.

He said previously, the counterfeit products were usually of luxury brands, however the range is now increasingly diverse, from sweets and lightbulbs to clothes.

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Elephant tusks, leopard skins smuggled from Africa to Vietnam

Vietnamese customs officers on Sunday spotted elephant tusks and tails, leopard skins, and wild animals' claws in the luggage of an old local woman who flied from an African country to Ho Chi Minh City.

Checking the personal luggage of a 65-year-old passenger who landed at the Tan Son Nhat international airport, the officers found nearly four kg of elephant tusks, nine elephant tails, three leopard skins and many claws, the municipal Customs Department said, noting that the smuggled items are valued at over 2 billion Vietnamese dong (some 90,000 U.S. dollars).

Over the past four weeks, the airport's customs officers detected several cases of smuggling rhino horns, elephant tusks and pangolin scales worth over 10 billion Vietnamese dong (nearly 450,000 U.S. dollars) from Africa to the city.

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Elephant tusks, leopard skins smuggled from Africa seized at airport

HCM CITY – Tân Sơn Nhất airport customs officers on Sunday found elephant tusks and tails, leopard skins, and wild animal claws worth VNĐ2 billion (US$90,000) in the luggage of a Vietnamese woman who had been on a flight from Africa to HCM City.

The name of the woman was not disclosed.

Checking the luggage of the 62-year-old passenger, the officers found nearly four kilogrammes of elephant tusks, nine elephant tails, three leopard skins and many claws, all of which were from animals listed in the Red Book, according to the HCM City Customs Department.

Last month, the airport’s customs officers detected several smuggling cases of rhino horns, elephant tusks and pangolin scales worth a total of over VNĐ10 billion ($450,000), transported from Africa to HCM City.

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Customs at Tan Son Nhat airport seize products from elephant tusks

Customs officers at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCM City on May 4 discovered over 4kg of products from elephant tusks and pangolin scales illegally transported from Africa to Vietnam.

The products included bracelets and jewellery suspected of being made of African elephant tusks and 200 grams of pangolin scales, worth about VND250 million (about US$11 million).


They were hidden in the luggage of a 34 year-old woman on a flight from Angola to Ho Chi Minh City.

The exhibits are being kept by the airport’s customs officers and the case is under investigation.

Earlier, on April 16, customs at the Tan Son Nhat airport along with authorised agencies uncovered 5kg of smuggled rhino horns.

Vietnam has banned the trading of elephant tusks since 1992.

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Vietnam police arrest suspects for smuggling rhino horns, elephant tusks, tiger carcasses

Vietnamese police officers have just put three suspects in criminal detention after finding them smuggling wildlife earlier this week.

The suspects in question are Nguyen Mau Chien, Nguyen Van Tung, and Nguyen Ngoc Dung, all hailing from the north-central province of Thanh Hoa.

Chien, Tung and Dung were caught red-handed transporting more than 30kg of rhino horns at the Hanoi Gas Station on April 27.

Police then searched Chien’s living place and discovered 3kg of rhino horn, two frozen tiger carcasses, elephant tusks, lion skin, and some other products made from elephant tusk.

Chien admitted to police officers that he and his nephews, Tung and Dung, had bought the wildlife from South Africa and shipped them to Malaysia.

They then transported them to Ho Chi Minh City before taking them to Hanoi for consumption.

Investigators believe Chien is just part of a larger ring smuggling wildlife so they are expanding their probe.

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Vietnam seizes 2 tons of smuggled elephant tusks

More than 2 tons of ivory tusks, hidden inside a container imported from Malaysia, were found by customs authorities in the northern port city of Hai Phong.

Nguyen Kien Giang, director of division 3 of Hai Phong Customs, said on Wednesday that after noticing the suspicious looking container, customs officers decided to scan and open it for inspection last week.

The customs declaration for the 40’ container claimed it held 27.5 tons of sea shells, but in fact, it was packed with elephant tusks and other goods banned from importation.

Each of these tusks were cut into three or four pieces, customs officer said.

The writer of the declaration is the one-member branch of the Hai Phong Trading, Services, Import and Export LC located in Quang Ninh Province, who insisted that the container is classified as goods temporarily imported for re-export.

In fact, the branch has made another customs declaration for re-exporting the container to China via northern Lang Son Province.

The value of the tusks has yet to determined, but customs officers said a haul of 769 kg ivory tusks in Hong Kong had an estimated sale price of US$1.49 million last week.

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Vietnam seizes illegal ivory shipment

Around 350kg of ivory hidden in a shipping container has been seized in Vietnam, an official said today (Feb. 21), the first major bust of the illegally-trafficked product this year.

Although the ivory trade has been banned in Vietnam since 1992, the country remains a top market for ivory products prized locally for its purported decorative and medicinal purposes.

The country is also a busy thoroughfare for tusks trafficked from Africa destined for other parts of Asia.

The latest ivory haul was discovered in the Soc Son District of Hanoi, according to customs officials. They said laboratories were testing the 350-kilogramme haul to definitely conclude if they are elephant tusks

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EWildlife smugglers using Facebook to sell ivory and rhino horn

An investigation reveals the social media site is acting as a shopfront for a multimillion dollar trade in animal parts, centred in a small village outside Hanoi

Wildlife traffickers from a small, sleepy village in Vietnam are using Facebook to offload large amounts of illegal ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts, an investigation has revealed.

The results of an 18-month sting by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) – shared with the Guardian – were presented at a public hearing in November at the Peace Palace in the Hague. They showed how social media sites such as Facebook are allowing traders greater access to customers.

“It’s wildlife trafficking on an industrial scale,” said Olivia Swaak-Goldman, the executive director of the WJC.

Undercover investigators visited the Vietnamese village of Nhi Khe, known as a wildlife trafficking hub, five times in the past year and scoured Facebook and WeChat, which is popular in China. In all, they tallied illegal wildlife products worth US$53.1 million (366.6 million yuan) stemming from just 51 traders in the village for sale in person and online.

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Vietnam Seizes Large Shipment of Illegal Ivory

Vietnamese authorities have seized 619 kilograms (1,362 pounds) of ivory illegally shipped from Africa after finding 4 tons at the same port over the past two months, state media and an official said Friday.

The ivory seized Thursday had been hidden in two containers arriving at Cat Lai port in southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, the city's Customs newspaper said.

Le Dinh Loi, the city's deputy customs chief confirmed the report, but did not give more details Friday.

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Vietnam destroys huge ivory, rhino horn cache

HANOI: Vietnam destroyed a huge stockpile of ivory and rhino horn Saturday, urging the public to stop consuming illegal wildlife products driving several species towards extinction.

The ivory and rhino horn trade is officially banned in Vietnam, but its use in traditional medicine and for decoration remains widespread, especially among the communist country’s growing elite.


It is also a popular transit point for African ivory and rhino horn destined for neighbouring China, the main market for products fuelling the illicit and lucrative trade.

More than two tonnes of ivory and 70 kilogrammes (154 pounds) of rhino horn were crushed and burned on the outskirts of Hanoi as armed guards protected the more than 30 crates of horns, tusks and bones being destroyed.

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Vietnam destroys 2 200kg seized ivory, rhino horns

Hanoi - Vietnamese authorities destroyed more than 2 200kg of seized elephant ivory and rhino horns on Saturday, sending a message ahead of a key international conference the country is hosting next week that they want illegal wildlife trafficking stopped.

The seized horns - estimated to be worth more than $7m on the black market - came from some 330 African elephants and 23 rhino that were slaughtered by poachers to meet the demand for ivory, used to make jewellery and home decorations, and rhino horns, in the misguided belief they can cure cancer.

The horns were crushed and then burned on the outskirts of Hanoi, with Vietnam joining 20 other nations in destroying seized wildlife products.

An international conference on the illegal wildlife trade will be held next week in Hanoi, Vietnam's capital. It will be attended by officials and experts including Britain's Prince William, a vocal critic of the illegal wildlife trade.

Vietnam is one of the world's major transit points and consumers of trafficked ivory and rhino horns.


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Over 900 pounds of ivory seized in Vietnam

Vietnamese authorities have seized 446 kilograms (981 pounds) of ivory shipped from Nigeria after finding 3.5 tons at the same port last month.

Customs official Le Dinh Loi says the ivory seized Tuesday had been hidden in timber in a container at Cat Lai port in the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.

Authorities seized 3.5 tons of ivory in three shipments smuggled from Africa at the same port last month.

State media say 1 ton of ivory costs $1.8 million on the black market.

Elephant ivory is used as jewelry and home decorations in Vietnam, which bans hunting of its own dwindling population of elephants.

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Illegal Trafficking: 500 kilograms of elephant tusks seized in Vietnam

500 kilograms of elephant tusks were learned Tuesday in Vietnam. The arrest was announced by the Ho Chi Minh authorities, who found a half ton of prey hidden elephant in two containers, coming from Africa.

Hidden between wood and sawdust, the elephant tusks were found in the port of Cat Lai, after a local company has treated its coming import from Africa.

This is not an isolated situation with the Vietnamese authorities to register three similar cases only in the last month. Last month the elephant tusks smuggled seizures amounting to 3.5 tonnes.


Used in traditional medicine or as a luxury object, elephant tusks remain the prime target for poachers in Africa. The data indicate that the poaching of elephants has been declining since 2011, but still, about 30,000 pachyderms continue to be killed every year.

The latest figures indicate that Africa currently has about 450,000 elephants living in their own land.

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Vietnam a port for smuggled elephant tusks

Following multiple cases of elephant tusks being smuggled through Vietnam, authorities have confirmed the country as an intermediate port in the illegal shipment of the wildlife parts.

According to the Vietnam Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), during the 2010-15 period, customs officers uncovered a total of 116 cases of animal smuggling and trading, confiscating over 22 tonnes of ivory and 457 ivory bracelets.

Authorities have also seized a considerable volume of elephant tusks this year.

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Two tonnes of suspected elephant tusks found at Sai Gon port

Ho Chi Minh City (VNA) – Two tonnes of goods suspected to be elephant tusks were discovered recently at Sai Gon Port by the Customs Office at the port and t he Police Department for Smuggling Prevention C74 under the Ministry of Public Security.

According to the port’s Customs Office, checks on a batch of wood imported from Mozambique revealed 12 hollow logs containing 569 chunks suspected to be elephant tusks, weighing a total 2,052kg.

All the suspicious goods were sent to the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for identification.-VNA

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Rings made of elephant hair flood central highland souvenir shops

Thu Huong, Vietnam News Agency
August 31, 2008

To ethnic minority groups living in the central highland province of Dac Lac, a ring made of hair taken from an elephant’s tail is far more than an ordinary ornament. Because most people consider it to be an amulet that is expected to bring them luck in love, local couples often use elephant hair as a pawn in the game of love.

Although no one has ever been able to prove the reliability of such a rumor, rings plaited with elephant hairs are now appearing in many souvenir shops. But the consequences of such beliefs in the significance of the elephant rings are leaving a tale of cruelty – thieves are often the ones who cut off the tails of the massive beasts.

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Vietnam Nabs Ivory Smugglers With 26 Elephant Tusks

Playfuls.com
December 21, 2006
Police in northern Vietnam arrested three people after seizing more than 100 kilograms of elephant tusks destined for the ivory trade, an official said Thursday.
Traffic police in Quang Ninh province stopped a taxi en route to Mong Cai Town near the border with China last Saturday and found 26 elephant tusks weighing 117.5 kilograms.
"They were transporting the tusks to the border to send them to China," said Tran Ngoc Duong, a policeman of Quang Ninh province, 150 kilometers east of Hanoi.
Hoang The Vinh, 34, the owner of the tusks, confessed to the police that he had bought the tusks in Nghe An province in central Vietnam for 4.5 million dong (280 dollars) per kilogram, police said.
The arrested, including Vinh, Chu Hong Sang, 39, and Ngo Thi Nga, will be charged with smuggling and violating regulations on protecting wild animals.

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Wild animal smugglers stopped in their tracks

Wild animal smugglers stopped in their tracks
Thanh Nien

A check stop in northern Vietnam uncovered a large cache of wild animal parts in a truck including 11 elephant tusks, while hundreds of kilograms of animals were seized in the south yesterday.

Traffic police in the northern province Thanh Hoa Saturday morning searched the truck carrying the elephant tusks, and found 22 tiger teeth, 6 bear galls and 4 tiger skulls.
The smuggler fled the scene, but the contraband was retrieved and brought to the provincial investigation agency.

On the same day, HCMC police seized a 108kg haul of iguanas, snakes, turtles, weasels, mouse deer, pangolin, monkeys, and wild boars in the city’s Thu Duc district.

According to the initial investigation, Nguyen Tri Dung and Dao Van Lang, aged 26 and 19, respectively, confessed that a large part of the wild goods belonged to Nguyen Minh Tiem in neighboring Binh Phuoc province.

HCMC authorities last month also swooped down on a slaughterhouse in Thu Duc District and seized hundreds of kilograms of wild animals allegedly destined for city-based restaurants.

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