HCM City Police seized one tonne of ivory smuggled from Africa at Cat Lai Port on October 26 after discovering over two tonnes of smuggled ivory earlier this month.
Ivory pieces hidden inside wood blocks
The customs department, the customs control team and the city anti-smuggling police inspected two suspicious containers and found hundreds of ivory pieces hidden inside wood blocks. The shipment has an estimated value of VND40bn (USD1.8m).
The importer didn't go to the customs office to complete procedures when the shipment arrived in September. The customs had monitored the containers and found suspicious signs.
This shipment was sent from Mozambique, along with two other ivory shipments that have been found at Cat Lai Port.
On October 23, 50kg of ivory were intercepted at Cat Lai Port inside hollow wood blocks and 10 bags of pangolin scales worth over VND10bn (USD450,000). On October 6, the customs also found out more than two tonnes of smuggled African ivory.
