Le Ngoc Van, 40, was driving on Highway 1 when he saw a large crocodile lying by the roadside with its mouth wide open.

Van, with the help of four villagers, caught a crocodile from a shallow water body after a half-hour effort. No one knew where the crocodile had come from, and whether there were other crocodiles there. — Photo tienphong.vn 

The incident happened when Van reached the Go Lang Bridge in the area of An Thanh 1 Village, Binh An Commune, Thang Binh District, in Quang Nam Province at about 9am last Friday.

When Van stopped his motorbike and approached the animal, it immediately plunged into a shallow water body under the bridge. Van then called four villagers to help chase it.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported the villagers used an electronic shock device and caught the crocodile by 9.30am. It was about one metre to 1.5m long and weighed about 30kg.

He then sold it to a passer-by for VND1 million (US$50).

The incident reportedly attracted hundreds of curious villagers and passers-by. They appeared to be worried as there were no crocodile farms nearby, and asked if there were more crocodiles in the water. Some surmised the animal fell off a truck that was carrying crocodiles while travelling through the area.

Director of Quang Nam Province Forest Protection Department Phan Tuan said this was not the first time crocodiles had appeared on Highway 1.

In December 2013, the traffic police in the province's Nui Thanh District discovered and seized a 1.7m-long crocodile, weighing 24kg, on Highway 1 in Tam Hiep Commune area.

Tuan's department then discovered that the crocodile has fallen off a truck while being transported. 

VNS