Hà Nội police seize large amount of elephant tusks

The sacks were found on Sunday in a room on the third floor of the house as well as in a nearby house owned by Kiên’s relative.

Kiên told the police he had bought the tusks for VNĐ8 million (US$351) per kilogram.

Earlier that day, police apprehended three men who were transporting 15 kilograms of elephant tusks on their bikes. They confessed that Kiên was the owner of the tusks.

According to initial reports, Kiên was a supplier of meat for restaurants.

The case is under investigation.

Last December, Hải Phòng customs officials seized more than 2.2 tonnes of elephant tusks--- the largest volume of tusks ever confiscated-- -that had been smuggled into Việt Nam from Mozambique.

The tusks arrived at Tân Vũ Port in the northern coastal Hải Phòng City. They were sent by an enterprise in Mozambique to an import-export joint-stock company in the city.

Elephants are an endangered species and are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. International trade in elephant tusks is illegal in Việt Nam.