Man sentenced to 13 years for trafficking 10 tons of wild animal parts

Nguyen Duc Tai, 33, had set up two companies to import the animal parts to Da Nang's Tien Sa Port between February and September 2021. The haul included nearly 460 kg of elephant tusks, around 140 kg of rhino horns, more than 6.2 tons of pangolin scales, and 3.1 tons of lion bones via Da Nang's Tien Sa Port, the indictment said.

The shipments were disguised as other products. One that arrived in July 2021 was said to carry floor wood panels, but turned out to contain rhino horns and lion bones.

Da Nang People's Court sentenced Tai to 10 years for violating regulations of wild animal protections, and three years for forgery.

Wildlife trafficking remains rampant in Vietnam, which has been a major market as well as a transit point for consumers in China and the U.S.

Earlier this month, 600 kg of ivory smuggled from Africa was seized at two ports in Vietnam's northern city of Hai Phong, one of which weighed nearly 500 kg, the country's biggest seizure in more than four years.