Police seize over three tonnes of smuggled pangolin scales

The police in HCM City has seized 3.3 tonnes of pangolin scales which have been illegally imported from South Africa.

The police in HCM City has seized 3.3 tonnes of pangolin scales which have been illegally imported from South Africa on May 3.

    

3.3 tonnes of pangolin scales seized on May 3

The Customs Department at Saigon Port and the Police Department for Smuggling Prevention stopped and seized the cargo imported from Nigeria after a long investigation. It was transiting via Vietnam before eventually ending up in Cambodia. The cargo of Tan Vinh Thinh Company was registered as dried cashew nuts but it actually contained pangolin scales.

The pangolin scales were put into bags with cashew images and kept in the innermost part of the container. A layer of real cashews was then was used to cover the pangolin scales in the container.

On April 27, customs officers in HCM City also seized nearly 3.8 tonnes of pangolin scales worth VND30bn (USD1.36m). The pangolin scales were put into in 210 jute bags surrounded by logs in two containers which belong to Thien Phuoc Duc Ltd. Co. The containers were declared as logs imported from Congo.

With two cases, the customs officers at Saigon Port discovered and seized over seven tonnes of illegally-imported products of endangered species that worth over VND60bn (USD2.63m).

The HCM City Department of Customs is working with other agencies to expand the investigation.