By SPA
Hanoi : Customs police in Vietnam have discovered at least 17 more tons of slaughtered pangolins being smuggled from Indonesia to China, just a week after seizing a then-record seven tons of the endangered animals, DPA quoted an official as saying Thursday.
The pangolin carcasses were found Thursday in two containers at the port of Haiphong, 100 kilometers east of Hanoi, according to city customs official Vu Hoang Duong.
“The pangolins in one of the containers weigh 8.5 tons, and we are still weighing those in the other container,” Duong said. “The total will be at least 17 tons.”
Duong said the containers, like the one seized last week, were registered as fresh fish and were on their way from Indonesia to China, transiting through Haiphong.
“It’s an amazing number of pangolins being smuggled, including the seven tons we detected last week,” Duong said. “I think many Chinese people love eating wild animals, including pangolins.”
Duong said officials had not yet decided what to do with the pangolin carcasses.