Man prosecuted for trafficking ivory items to Thailand

The Hanoi People’s Procuracy has prosecuted a man for attempting to traffic 3.1kg of ivory items to Thailand via Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi one year ago.

According to the indictment, on December 31, 2017, while completing procedures for passengers boarding a flight from Hanoi to Bangkok, customs officers at the airport suspected and checked the luggage of Quach Van Quynh, who was born in 1997 and from Nhu Thanh district of Thanh Hoa province.

The check found four logs, four bead chains and one ring suspected to be ivory that had a total weight of 3.1kg.

All the items were made from African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) tusks, confirmed the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.

This animal species is listed in the annexes of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Quynh told investigators he did not own those items, and that he had not known they were ivory as an acquaintance had only asked him to help bring a suitcase containing food and clothes to a person in Thailand.

The procuracy said there are sufficient evidence proving that Quynh knew the suitcase contained ivory but still tried to bring it to Thailand.

Therefore, it decided to prosecute Quynh for “trafficking prohibited items” as regulated in Article 155 of the 1999 Penal Code.

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