Vietnam seizes over a ton of illegally imported ivory at central port

During routine inspections at Quy Nhơn port in Vietnam's Gia Lai province, officials uncovered a concealed cache of 221 elephant ivory items totaling 1,193 kilograms, hidden within sawn timber from three containers that arrived on July 9. The same shipment included 79.3 kilograms of crushed bones from large felines, which are commonly processed for traditional Chinese medicine. Gia Lai Provincial Police identified the origin of the illegal cargo as the Republic of the Congo and have launched a criminal investigation for breaches of protected-animal trade rules.

Vietnam, a known conduit for wildlife trafficking, often transships such contraband to China and other Southeast Asian markets. While this seizure is the biggest ever recorded at Quy Nhơn, it is smaller than past interceptions of more than seven tons each in the ports of Danang and Haiphong. The case underscores ongoing challenges in enforcing the CITES ban on ivory trade.