The seven tons of elephant ivory in Angola were found by customs in a container supposedly carrying peanuts. Vietnam banned the ivory trade in 1992.
Vietnamese authorities announced Monday that they had seized seven tons of elephant ivory in Angola, the largest shipment of this type seized in recent years.
The ivory was found by customs at the north port of Haiphong in a container supposedly carrying peanuts, according to the official record.
Photos released by the customs department showed hundreds of long ivory tusks stacked in front of an open container. The shipment was sent to Vietnam via Singapore, authorities said.
Elephant tusks and other body parts are worn as talismans and used in traditional medicine in some parts of Asia, although there is no scientific evidence of such medicinal properties.
Vietnam officially banned the ivory trade in 1992but the country remains a hub for the illegal transport of wildlife in Asia.
More than 60 tons of ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horns have been seized in Vietnamese seaports since 2018according to a 2021 report by Education for Nature Vietnam, a non-governmental wildlife protection organization.
Source: Observadora
