This was the largest ivory smuggling case reported in Haiphong to date.
The ivory were seized in Haiphong
According to the Haiphong customs agency, they initially became suspicious about six containers sent to the port from Angola, including three which were declared to be transporting peanuts but had unclear addresses.
After checking the containers, they detected a huge amount of ivory in one of them.
The Vietnamese General Department of Customs are co-operating with concerned agencies on the investigation.
Ivory is on the list of goods banned from being imported and exported in line with the Vietnamese government’s decree issued in 2018.
A container containing 117 pieces of ivory tusk weighing 490 kilos was detected at Lach Huyen Port in Haiphong in early February this year.
Haiphong authorities also uncovered 42 pieces of ivory weighing 125 kilos at Lach Huyen Port in February. The illegal items were mixed into the horns of farmed oxen, imported from Africa to Vietnam by sea.
