Seizing more than 8 tonnes of pangolin scales in Hai Phong

Hundreds of packages of pangolin scales were seized. Photo: T.Bình

On May 15, the leader of the Northern Anti-Smuggling Enforcement Unit- Unit 1 (of Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department, General Department of Vietnam Customs) said: The unit coordinated with the competent forces under Hai Phong Customs Department to discover and seize more than 8.3 tonnes of pangolin scales transported illegally to Vietnam.

The shipment was sent from Africa onboard MIA SCHULTE to VIP GREEN port (Hai Phong) on ​​March 22, 2019. The enterprise named in the bill of lading was Hoa Binh International Forwarding Co., Ltd (located in Hanoi).

"Through analysing information on the system of Customs and customs intelligence, we found the shipment of goods showed suspicions. So we conducted physical inspection and detected a large number of infringing goods as mentioned above," the leader of Unit 1 said.

On March 25, Unit 1 coordinated with competent forces of Hai Phong Customs Department to open a suspicious container for inspection.

The inspection results showed that shipment contained a large amount of pangolin scales packed in a 20-feet container. Outside was camouflaged with 120 bags of seed but inside was 311 packages of pangolin scales, with a total weight of 8.3 tonnes.

Leaders of Unit 1 said the unit is continuing to investigate in order to handle in accordance with regulations.

Dr. Dang Tat The- Head of Molecular Systematics and Conservation Genetics Department (Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology) - a leading expert in the field of wildlife said the recent seizure of pangolin scales by the customs force in Hai Phong was the seizure of largest amount of scales ever in Vietnam.