Individuals involved in a wildlife trafficking ring in the police station. Photo courtesy of the HCM City Police Investigation Department

HCM CITY — A number of forest rangers have been found to have fabricated documents and accepted bribes to legitimise the origin of illegally trafficked animals.

The HCM City Police Investigation Department has expanded its investigation into violations of wildlife protection regulations, discovering that several forest rangers in Đà Nẵng and Hải Phòng cities fabricated documents and accepted bribes to legitimise the illegal origin of animals.

To date, the investigating agency has launched legal proceedings against 10 defendants on six charges.

Through a local inspection, the police had discovered that a business in Tam Thắng Ward of the central city Đà Nẵng, owned by Trương Thị Kim Hà, showed signs of illegally keeping and trading wild animals.

On May 7, the authorities, in coordination with the Phú Mỹ Forest Protection Department, inspected the facility.

Notably, having prior information, Nguyễn Văn Lợi, an officer from the Phú Mỹ Forest Protection Department assigned to the inspection team, telephoned Hà in advance to move the wild animals out of the business premises.

However, authorities still discovered Hà hiding 433 wild animals in a warehouse about 20m away, including 430 birds and three reptiles, all without documentation proving their legal origin.

The inspection determined that there were 73 individuals belonging to the Category IIB of endangered, rare, and precious wild animals and 360 individuals of common animals.

At the investigative agency, Hà admitted to purchasing wild animals of unknown origin for breeding and trading to gain illicit profits.

To legitimise their origin, she searched for information online, commissioned Nguyễn Hạnh Phúc to purchase corresponding forestry product manifests, and repeatedly gave money to Lợi for guidance on obtaining permits.

Expanding the investigation, the police clarified the involvement of eight more individuals.

Prominent among them were the actions of two forest rangers in Đà Nẵng, Nguyễn Văn Xuân and Phùng Bá Thắng in inter-communal Forest Ranger Station, ​​who fabricated and signed confirmations on forestry product origin verification reports for the bird breeding facility owned by Phan Dương Khánh Ly.

In the northern port city Hải Phòng, Mạc Đỗ Kiên, an officer of the Forest Protection Department, Region 2, processed a document certifying the illegal forestry product inventory for the owner of a bird breeding facility, Vũ Thế Nam.

The facility owners then sold the inventory to Phúc, who resold it to Hà for profit.

As of May 29, the police had initiated legal proceedings against ten defendants, including four forest protection official on six charges of bribery, receiving bribes, bribery brokerage, falsification in official duties, forgery of seals and documents of organisations, and use of forged seals and documents.

Citizens are called on not to participate in the illegal hunting, transportation, breeding, and trading of wild animals; and not to abet the falsification of documents to legitimise the origin of wild animals.

Any individual who violates the rules, including government officials, will be dealt with. — VNS