Vietnam seizes more than a ton of ivory hidden in timber cargo from Africa

HANOI (AP) — Vietnamese authorities have announced a major seizure of ivory that they say was smuggled from Africa, local state media reported Thursday.

The haul, 221 elephant tusks weighing 1,193 kilograms (2,630 pounds), was displayed to reporters Wednesday at Quy Nhon port. Gia Lai Provincial Police, which is handling the case, said the ivory was found hidden in sawn timber as customs officers inspected three shipping containers that arrived on July 9.

Along with the tusks, officials recovered 79.3 kilograms (175 pounds) of animal bones believed to be from big cats, including tigers, according to the Vietnam News Agency and other outlets. Crushed animal bones are sometimes sold for traditional Chinese medicine, a market that remains a major driver of illegal wildlife trade across the region.

Vietnam has long been a hub for the illicit trade in protected wildlife, both live and dead. Much of the contraband is moved onward to China, but there is also steady demand inside Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries, conservation groups say.

Gia Lai Provincial Police said the shipment had been transported from the Republic of the Congo and announced that a criminal investigation had been opened for violations of regulations on the protection of endangered animals.

The bust is the biggest ever recorded at Quy Nhon, though it is smaller than several other seizures in Vietnam over the past decade. Authorities in Danang and Haiphong have each intercepted more than seven tons of ivory since the early 2010s, a reminder of the scale of trafficking networks still using Vietnam’s ports as a gateway.

International trade in elephant ivory and other endangered animal products is largely banned under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Almost every U.N. member state is a party to the treaty, but enforcement varies, and seizures like this one underscore both the pressure on traffickers and the size of the black market that remains.