Police open fire on animal trafficking truck

Police shot the tyre of the truck

Two men abanded the broken-down truck and fled to a nearby hill. One of the men was arrested an hour later.

One of the two men on the truck was arrested. Photo by Minh Cuong

Police sezied several hundred pangolin scales from the truck, but the exact number has not be released.

The case is under further investigation.

It is estimated that over the last five months alone, at least seven tons of pangolin scales have been seized in Vietnam, including at least one ton of live pangolines.

Pangolins are the most poached and trafficked animals on earth, according to CITES, with an estimated one million animals illegally traded over the past 10 years.

Vienam and China are considered key hotspots in the international pangolin trafficking chain.