Hanoi police find 100 'critically endangered' turtles hidden in car

They found the animals in the trunk of the car in front of an apartment building in Phu Dien Ward last Sunday.

They identified them as the Vietnamese pond turtle or Annam leaf turtle, the Indochinese box turtle or flower-back box turtle, and the big-headed turtle, Cong An Nhan Dan reported.

All of them considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and are listed by Vietnamese government among a group of species whose "exploitation and use for commercial purposes are strictly prohibited."

Huynh Thi Gai, 27, of the central Da Nang City, who was in possession of the turtles, could not show any papers proving their origins.

She admitted she had bought them in Da Nang and was on her way to deliver them in Hanoi for a price of VND120 million ($5,300).

The buyer had paid VND5 million in advance.

Gai admitted she is aware the turtles are rare and endangered and their trading is prohibited.