Police in Khanh Hoa Province have charged an Indonesian national and a Vietnamese man with illegally transporting goods across the border after authorities uncovered more than 180,000 lobster larvae concealed in checked luggage at Cam Ranh Airport.
Investigators announced on August 30 charges against Stevanus Donny Kurnain, 25, an Indonesian citizen, and Ngo Duy Linh, 41, a resident of Khanh Hoa Province.
The case stems from an inspection carried out on August 17, when authorities identified four checked suitcases belonging to the two men as suspicious during screening procedures at Cam Ranh Airport.
A search of the luggage revealed 112 plastic bags containing more than 180,000 live lobster larvae.
Stevanus Donny Kurnain and Ngo Duy Linh with the seized evidence (Photo: Khanh Hoa Province Police).
During questioning, the suspects allegedly told investigators that they had been hired by an unidentified individual to transport the shipment in exchange for VND 4.5 million (about USD 170).
Authorities said the pair had just arrived at Cam Ranh Airport and were preparing to deliver the cargo when they were intercepted and arrested.
An official valuation concluded that the larvae had an estimated import value of more than VND 7 billion (about USD 268,000).
Investigators said the shipment had not been declared to customs upon entry into Vietnam and was not accompanied by quarantine certificates, invoices or documents proving its origin.
Police noted that several businesses in Khanh Hoa had previously been found raising lobster larvae of unknown origin. Those shipments were seized and destroyed by authorities.
According to Khanh Hoa Provincial Police Department, the smuggling and illegal transport of lobster larvae from abroad increase the risk of disease entering the country, threaten the quality of breeding stock, cause significant losses for aquaculture producers and result in lost tax revenue for the state.