Man jailed for storing whopping 780kg of African pangolin scales in Vietnam
The People’s Court of northern Hung Yen province on June 2 sentenced Nguyen Van Long, 36, to five years and three months in jail for storing 780 kg of pangolin scales – a type of banned goods – in Vietnam.
Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s report said that during a raid on the house of Long’s older brother in September 2018, the Environmental Police Department under the Public Security Ministry, in collaboration with local police, detected 32 sacks containing 780 kg of pangolin scales without a certificate of origin.
Long later admitted that he was the owner of the goods.
The goods include 225 kg of giant pangolin and 555 kg of white-bellied pangolin scales, worth nearly 1.1 billion VND (US$48,000).
These pangolin species do not exist in nature in Vietnam and are listed in the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The court also ordered the destruction of the confiscated pangolin scales.
According to VNA, Bui Thi Ha, Deputy Director of Education for Nature Vietnam (ENV), said this is the first case relating to African pangolin scales brought to trial in the past five years.
Earlier, in July 2020, the provincial People’s Court also sentenced Nguyen Dinh Hong, who lives in the central province of Ha Tinh’s Tay Son town, to 16 years in prison after being caught red-handed transporting 116 pangolin individuals.
Bernama – June 4, 2021