June 1, 2026 | 16:57 GMT +7
Hotline: 0913.378.918
June 1, 2026 | 16:57 GMT +7
Hotline: 0913.378.918
The authorities seized 615 kg of ivory, which had been smuggled into Vietnam mixed with African cow horns. Photo: ENV.
In connection with the large quantity of ivory discovered at Hai Phong Port in early 2023, on July 18, 2024, the Hai Phong People's Court held a first-instance trial for Hoang Van Hao.
Earlier, on February 2 and 3, 2023, the Hai Phong Port Customs and Hai Phong City Police, in coordination with relevant units, inspected two suspicious containers and seized 615 kg of ivory mixed with African cow horns.
The company that imported the goods containing the ivory was HMD Technology Joint Stock Company, located at Team 6, Thuy Ung Village, Hoa Binh Commune, Thuong Tin District, Hanoi City, represented by Hoang Van Hao.
Investigations determined that Hoang Van Hao exploited the legal importation of African cow horns to smuggle a large quantity of ivory into Vietnam. As a result, the Hai Phong People's Court sentenced Hoang Van Hao to 10 years in prison for "Violating regulations on the protection of endangered, precious, and rare animals." In addition to the 10-year prison sentence, Hao was fined an additional VND 50 million, and all seized items were ordered to be destroyed.
According to the Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV), in recent times, due to the advantages of transporting large quantities of goods at low costs and the relatively low risk of detection and prosecution, many perpetrators have used maritime routes for transnational wildlife trafficking.
The illegal possession, transportation, and trade of ivory can result in administrative fines of up to VND 360 million (for individuals) under Article 23 of Decree 35/2019/ND-CP or criminal prosecution with penalties of up to 15 years in prison (for individuals) under Article 244 of the 2015 Penal Code, as amended and supplemented in 2017. For seized ivory quantities of 90 kg or more, individuals can face prison sentences of 10 to 15 years.
In just five years from 2019 to 2023, ENV recorded over 2,000 violations related to ivory, significantly higher than the more than 660 cases recorded in the previous five years, from 2014 to 2018.
Translated by Hoang Duy
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