Local police seized 2.2 tonnes of tusks smuggled into Viet Nam from Nigeria August 21.

The tusks were allegedly brought into Viet Nam by Da Nang-based Van An Company from Mozambique and were hidden inside three imported timber cargo containers.

The company declared that the three containers only carried imported timber.

Nguyen Quang Lang, head of the Da Nang Customs Gate Unit, said the tusks arrived at the port just a few days after local police and customs had already seized a Van An Company shipment containing one tonne of tusks and rhino horns on August 13.

The earlier smuggled items were found hidden inside fake marble as part of a stone shipment. Each fake slab of marble contained dozens of elephant tusks or rhino horns.

Lang said the three containers seized yesterday have been resealed. The investigative unit of the Ministry of Public Security will conduct a complete investigation in the coming days.

International trade of elephant tusk and rhino horn is illegal in Viet Nam. Both elephants and rhinos are endangered species and listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The anti-smuggling department of the General Directorate of Customs have already pressed charges against the Van An company for the August 13 shipment.

VNS