A representative of the Education for Nature Center (ENV) said that from 2018 until now, authorities have recorded and confiscated more than 15 tons of ivory at (how many) ports in Vietnam. However, no one has yet been held responsible for these shipments.

“Those may belong to a large transnational wildlife trade network operating in Vietnam,” emphasized the ENV representative.

Also, in the view of ENV, the “flaws” in handling ivory seizures at ports have made  a significant impact on the fight against the illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam.

Therefore, the authorities should focus on investigating wildlife violations detected at ports and collecting all the evidence related to the large-scale arrests at the port, including financial transactions between the sender and the receiver, to identify the subjects behind these illegal shipments.

In addition, the legal provisions in anti-money laundering and tax evasion along with regulations on organized crime serving as a legal basis to handle cross-border illegal wildlife trades led by Vietnamese actors also need to be applied effectively.

Currently, Vietnam is “on the right track” in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. Frontline units are continuously reaping successes while judicial agencies such as procuracy and courts are also setting new milestones in crime handling.

However, the leaders of these illegal trafficking lines still seem to be out of the “target” of the authorities.

“It is time for the authorities to terminate these transnational wildlife trafficking lines, starting with handling violations at the port, where the subjects use to smuggle products made from wild animals into Vietnam,” the ENV representative suggested.

According to Vietnam Plus