At around 11 pm on April 21, while patrolling a road at the foot of Hon Cha Mountain in Quy Nhon City’s Tran Quang Dieu Ward, local authorities discovered two unlicensed trucks transporting two large stone blocks.
The team identified Nguyen Trung Hieu, 53, from Binh Dinh Province, and Nguyen Van Tuan, 35, from Gia Lai Province, as the two truck drivers. Neither of them could show documents related to the vehicles or the stones they were transporting.
The illegal stone mining on Hon Cha Mountain (Photo by Doan Cong)
The vehicles and stone blocks were seized, and the two individuals were taken to the police station for investigation.
The police of Tran Quang Dieu Ward have handed over the case to the provincial Department of Police for further action.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Xuan An, Chief of the Tran Quang Dieu Ward Police, on March 30, the unit also confiscated an excavator and a dump truck involved in illegal stone mining on Hon Cha Mountain.
Investigations have found that illegal stone mining on Hon Cha Mountain has been rampant for a long time, leaving many areas heavily scarred. This requires more drastic and effective measures from concerned agencies.
Quy Nhon City has been urged to tighten mineral management on Hon Cha Mountain, and the Chairman of the City People's Committee will be held fully responsible for any illegal mineral mining that occurs within his jurisdiction.