Police in the central province of Nghe An said on Friday that they had arrested two people suspected of trafficking wild animals.
Police said that two months ago, they detected an illegal network trafficking tigers between Laos and Vietnam. The alleged kingpin is Le Van Duc, 26, from Nghe An.
They followed Duc and arrested him on Thursday while he was staying at a neighbor's house.
The neighbor, Nguyen Thi Hue, 48, allegedly helped him hide illegal items.
At her house, police seized a tiger carcass, a tiger skin and a tiger head, which were all frozen and weighed 64 kilograms in total.
Police are investigating the case.
A frozen tiger carcass and a tiger skin seized at the scene. Photo provided by the police. |
Education for Nature-Vietnam, one of Vietnam's few locally based conservation groups, said that most tigers confiscated in Vietnam originate from other countries like Laos and Thailand. They are used in traditional medicine, despite no scientific basis, or as decorations.
From 2006 to September this year, the organization has investigated 971 cases of trading, transporting, selling and advertising tigers or tiger products. They have helped rescue 14 live tigers and confiscate 69 dead tigers.
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