Africans In China

Hai Phong City customs officials have uncovered up to seven tons of elephant tusks smuggled in from Tanzania.

Customs officers check on the smuggled tusks in Hai Phong City on Mar. 7 (Photo: SGGP)

The tusks were found Friday hidden in around 114 boxes of plastic waste inside a container after being transported from Africa through Malaysia to Vietnam’s northern Hai Phong port.

According to Hai Phong police, the owner of the goods is Vu Ngoc Tuan, director of Hai Phong-based Phuc Thien Ngan Ltd. Company, who has run away.

Hai Phong customs chief Mai The Huyen said it was likely that the tusks were smuggled in Vietnam for onward movement.

It is the country’s biggest seizure ever, according to reports.

According to investigators, this container was loaded onto a ship from a Tanzanian port and then transported to a Malaysian port before arriving in Vietnam on a Malaysian-flagged vessel. It is likely that from Hai Phong, the tusks would be transported to China by sea or by road.

The customs and other units were checking the tusks in the past two days. They expect to finish counting the number of tusks by the Monday afternoon (Mar. 9). It is estimated that there are almost 500 pairs of tusks in all.