Asia-Pacific News
Vietnam police arrest man caught with frozen tigers
Jun 24, 2010, 6:36 GMT
Hanoi - Vietnam police have arrested a man on suspicion of wildlife trafficking after finding two frozen tigers and a panther in his house, a police official said Thursday.
Officers raided a house Tuesday in the central province of Nghe An after a monthlong investigation, said Tran Huu Long, head of the Nghe An Environmental Police Department.
They found the three carcasses in freezers as well as about 50 kilograms of bones believed to belong to other tigers. Long said the stash was worth more than 50,000 dollars.
Police arrested Le Hong Thoan, 53, and were searching for a second man who fled the house before the raid.
Long said the animals had been trafficked to Vietnam from Laos, a major source of banned wildlife for the local trade.
In March, a man driving a pickup containing more than 2,000 kilograms of body parts from wild animals, including a tiger and a black panther, was arrested trying to enter Vietnam from Laos.
Illegal trafficking in tigers and other rare animals is widespread in Vietnam and China, where their bones and other body parts are often used in traditional medicine. A kilogram of pure tiger-bone paste can sell for up to 5,000 dollars on the black market.
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