Vietnam Customs Busts Additional 500kg of Ivory after 3.3Tons in October

Customs officers in Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City have detected and seized nearly 500 kilograms of elephant tusks hidden in two timber containers imported from Africa, the fourth ivory smuggling cases to be unearthed in the last month. The tusks were stacked inside wooden trunks and surrounded by sawdust with an aim to avoid detection, according to customs officers at the city’s Cat Lai International Port. The seized volume are estimated to be worth VND20 billion ($900,000). According to the Tuoi Tre newspaper, the two containers were supposed to be transported to Binh Duong port in the nearby southern province of Binh Duong where the consignee, Tam Phuc Ltd., is registered. Last month, the municipal customs busted three ivory smuggling cases having total market value of VND140 billion ($6.3 million). Following the recurrences, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh has asked the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Finance to thoroughly investigate each case. In August, a Kenyan news portal reported that Vietnam may become one of the world’s biggest market for illegal ivory products due to a rise of 600% on sales of elephant tusks in the past eight years. (Tuoi Tre – Youth Nov 1, Congan.com.vn Nov 2)