VietNamNet Bridge – Every day, hundreds or even thousands of buffalo and cows are illegally smuggled into Vietnam from Cambodia.

Along the Vietnam-Cambodia border are three hot spots where cattle are brought into the southern provinces of An Giang and Kien Giang. In An Giang, the activity takes place in the An Phu commune of Tinh Bien District and the Vinh Gia commune of Tri Ton. In Kien Giang, the animals come in near the Vinh Dieu commune of Giang Thanh District.

The cattle are transported by boats or herded over land. On average, a cattle trader often takes 20-30 cattle from Cambodia to Vietnam on each trip. According to locals, the distance from Cambodia’s cattle market to Vietnam is only 1.5km , so it takes traders only one hour to tend the cattle from Cambodia through the border to Vietnam and it is only 40 minutes by boat.

Since mid-May, the number of smuggled cattle has soared. Every day hundreds of are brought from Cambodia’s Ta Keo Province to the An Phu Commune.

The incentive for smuggling the cattle is the avoidance of taxes and animal quarantine stations.

After Vietnam and Cambodia signed an agreement allowing free trade with 42 agricultural commodities, some people have smuggled products, including cattle .

Dozens of people involved in cattle smuggling at the Ta Ngao market in Tinh Bien district, An Giang. Each day at least 300 cattle are traded at this market.

A senior cattle smuggler in Tinh Bien said that prices for cows in Cambodia range from VND10 to VND40 million ($500-2,000) per head and from VND60-70 million ($3,000-3,500) for buffalo. Vietnamese cattle traders go to Cambodian villages to buy cattle.

At the Ta Ngao cattle market, traders have to pay a fee of VND90,000 ($4.5) for a cow of less than 1m in height and VND130,000 ($6) for those over that. There are both Vietnamese and Cambodian traders here. The cattle are not quarantined by any local agency.

Zing/VNN