The accused are Pham Thi Thanh, 36; Kieu Thi Nhuan, 38; Pham Van Quyet, 25 (Nhuan’s nephew); and Vu Van Hoan, 31. All are residents of the capital city.

Four members of an ivory trafficking ring were indicted on Thursday by the HanoiPeople’s Procuracy for trading prohibited goods.

Having specialised in the trade of handicrafts, in June 2016, Thanh agreed to meet with a man named Hung in Bac Giang Province – 50km to the east of Hanoi – after the man contacted her and offered to sell ivory.

After examining the products, Thanh agreed to buy a total of 55kg of ivory from Hung, 49kg of which she bought at VNĐ4.5 million (US$198) per kg and the remaining 6kg at VNĐ12.6 million ($555) per kg.

The ivory were identified as belonging to the African bush elephant species (Loxodonta africana), which is included in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

In the middle of July 2016, Thanh completed the purchase of ivory from Hung and hid it in her house in Nhi Khe Village in the capital city’s Thuong Tin District.

Nhị Khê Village, famous for its handicrafts, is frequented by foreign tourists wishing to buy handicraft products. As an interpreter of Chinese, Kieu Thi Nhuan often brought Chinese tourists to the village to buy wooden beads’ necklaces and bracelets, and established a connection with Thanh.

Knowing one of the tourists was keen to buy ivory, Nhuan introduced the customer to Thanh. The Chinese customer agreed to buy 50kg of ivory from Thanh at VNĐ13.9 million ($612) per kg.

Thanh asked her nephew Pham Van Quyet and his friend Vu Van Hoan to deliver the ivory to the customer. Quyet and Hoan agreed, although they were aware it is illegal to deliver prohibited goods.

During the delivery, the two men and 50kg of ivory were seized by police of the Division of Economic Crimes and Management Positions Investigation (PC46) of Hanoi at the Lac Thi junction in Thanh Tri District, on the southeastern side of the city.

All files of the case have been transferred to the Hanoi People’s Court for further examination and trial. 

VNS