The defendants in court. — Photo qdnd.vn

HÀ NỘI — The People’s Court of Hà Nội on Tuesday sentenced three women and one man to a total of 18 years in prison for illegally transporting and trading 984kg of pangolin scales, one of the largest cases of wildlife trading detected so far in Việt Nam.

The leader in the case, Nguyễn Thị Chính from northern Vĩnh Phúc Province, was sentenced to seven years, while Hoàng Thị Hiền Phương from Hà Nội, was jailed for five years for her role as a broker.

Nguyễn Thị Hà from Vĩnh Phúc got four years and Nguyễn Văn Sự, also from Vĩnh Phúc, was sentenced to two years in prison for illegally transporting the scales.

Pangolin is a protected wild animal due to increasing demand for its meat and scales in Việt Nam and China. Some pangolin species have been listed in the red book by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as endangered species.

Vietnamese laws prohibit the hunting, killing, caging, trading or transport of wild animals. — VNS