Tay Ninh police bust illegal turtle trading

The police in Tay Ninh Province have detained a local person who illegally stored a large number of sea turtles for illegal trading, according to the Education for Nature Vietnam.

The police in Tay Ninh Province have detained a local person who illegally stored a large number of sea turtles for illegal trading, according to the Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV).

  

Tay Ninh police bust illegal turtle trading.

The ENV said on December 24 that the local people reported the case to them. Afterwards, they quickly transferred the case to the police in Tay Ninh for investigation. At the house of a woman born in 1973 in Da Hang Hamlet, Go Dau District, the police found 39 sea turtles. Each was from 40cm to 50cm wide.

The police suspected that the specimens might be owned by a ringleader of a larger animal trading ring who was suspected of trading with contacts in China.

The case is being expanded.

From 2010 to the end of the third quarter, ENV recorded 760 violations related to sea turtle protection. This mostly included illegal advertisement, raising and trading.

During this time, the local authorities seized a total of 193 preserved display specimens, 245 live turtles and nearly 7,400 turtle bodies. The local people gave away 68 turtles. The total of turtle shells collected from those violations reached over 1.4 tonnes.