Warning of cinnamon bark theft in mountainous district of Nghe An

Daytime theft

One day at the end of the year, we were at the house of Mr. Thai Dinh Trien (77 years old), in Trung Son village, Muong Noc commune (Que Phong), when he and his nephew had just returned from the cinnamon forest behind the house. “This morning, while I was at home, I heard that some strangers were riding motorbikes into the forest. Suspecting that they were stealing cinnamon, we had to go on patrol right away. But we walked all morning without seeing anyone. It was really tiring,” said Mr. Trien.

After the theft a few days ago, Mr. Trien had to build an iron gate to block the path to the cinnamon forest. Photo: Tien Hung

Like many other households here, Mr. Trien has more than 1.5 hectares of cinnamon trees in the forest behind his house. A few days ago, after another 30 "huge" cinnamon trees were stolen, Mr. Trien and his wife had to build an iron gate to block the path leading to the forest. But that still did not make the old couple feel secure. "Cinnamon is the main source of income for my family. Thanks to it, we have been able to raise our children for decades. Now that it keeps getting stolen like this, it is very painful," Mr. Trien said.

Mr. Trien's cinnamon forest has trees that are nearly 35 years old. Every year, after harvesting, Mr. Trien plants new trees. Mr. Trien's wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoa (73 years old), said that in the past 10 years, her family has had their cinnamon stolen almost every year. There were years when hundreds of trees were stolen. "The last time was just over a week ago. Four men on two motorbikes came to steal them in broad daylight. A neighbor of ours accidentally filmed them riding two motorbikes carrying sacks of cinnamon back and forth, but we still did not find the culprit," said Mrs. Hoa, adding that this time the thieves had stolen all 73 cinnamon trees from her and two neighbors. Of these, 30 of Mrs. Hoa's cinnamon trees were more than 20 years old and the family was preparing to harvest them. If the family were to harvest them themselves, with the current price of cinnamon, each tree could be peeled and sold for more than 10 million VND.

Ms. Hoa with 30 cinnamon trees that had to be cut down because all the bark was stripped off. Photo: Tien Hung

Pointing to a pile of cinnamon bark collected after cutting down the stolen trees, Mrs. Hoa said that a few years ago, the villagers caught two men in the commune stealing cinnamon bark and beat them. That was the only time the thieves were caught by the villagers. After that time, the cinnamon theft problem calmed down for a short time. But recently, this situation has become more serious again, with a large amount of cinnamon stolen and more daring methods.

Cinnamon trees with their barks stolen in Kim Son town will be cut down by local people to harvest them before they die. Photo: Tien Hung

Need intervention from authorities

Not only in Muong Noc, right in Kim Son town, in the past few weeks there have been a series of blatant cinnamon thefts, especially on Pu Hieu mountain. Standing next to a 25-year-old cinnamon tree that had to be cut down because its bark was stolen, Ms. Vi Thi Ngoc Thu (33 years old, Co Nong block) could not hold back her tears. “It is not only a pity for the money, but also for the efforts of the grower. Taking care of it for 25 years, only to end up empty-handed. I feel so angry,” Ms. Thu sobbed.

Ms. Thu next to the 25-year-old cinnamon trees that had to be cut down due to theft. Photo: Tien Hung

Before 1990, Pu Hieu was a bare hill, considered a "dead land", the surrounding streams and creeks were almost dry. From the government's policy, many households have started to cover the forest with cinnamon trees, helping this area gradually revive. Thu's father is one of the pioneers in growing cinnamon in Pu Hieu. Previously, Thu's family had up to 8 hectares of cinnamon, but due to too many thefts, most of the area was converted to growing acacia. Up to now, her family still has about 1 hectare of cinnamon trees. But the remaining cinnamon is also often stolen. The most recent time, in early December, Thu's family also had 30 cinnamon trees stolen. This is the second time this year that her family has had cinnamon stolen.

Ms. Thu said that the problem of cinnamon theft is not only now, but has been around for more than 15 years. “I am haunted by the face of my father bursting into tears because of resentment after 300 cinnamon trees were stolen in one day more than 15 years ago. Since then, my family has lost about 5,000 cinnamon trees. Almost every year, especially in the last 6 years, when the price of cinnamon has been increasing,” Ms. Thu said, adding that in the past, her family often reported to the local authorities after each cinnamon theft. However, they have never caught the cinnamon thief and this problem is increasing, so Ms. Thu’s family, as well as many cinnamon growers, have become so frustrated that they have recently stopped reporting.

Also because of the cinnamon theft problem, many households in Co Nong were impatient and had to harvest cinnamon trees planted in Pu Hieu early. People then stopped planting new cinnamon trees and had to switch to planting acacia trees. Up to now, in Pu Hieu, there are only 3 households that still have cinnamon forests, but since the beginning of the year, all 3 households have had more than 200 trees stolen, mostly over 20 years old.

Each cinnamon tree, if people harvested the bark and branches, could be sold for more than 10 million VND. “Cinnamon trees bring in a lot of income. If my house hadn’t been robbed, I would have been very rich. Each tree costs an average of 10 million VND, but since the beginning of the year, 3 households have lost 200 trees,” said Ms. Thu.

Not only in the forest, thieves also dare to enter fenced gardens to steal. Photo: Tien Hung

According to the reporter's investigation, thieves not only went to cinnamon forests, where there were few people passing by, to steal, but many cinnamon trees planted in home gardens, protected by barbed wire fences, were even stripped of their bark. Homeowners could only shake their heads in dismay. The problem of cinnamon theft did not only occur in Muong Noc, Kim Son but also in communes such as Thong Thu, Hanh Dich, Chau Kim... According to the reporter's estimate, since the beginning of the year, hundreds of households have had their cinnamon stolen, but most of them did not report it to the local authorities and just let it go.

Que Phong District is considered the capital of cinnamon trees, and the name Que Phong is said to originate from this tree. Most of the cinnamon trees are currently planted under the 327 Project Program. At one point, the whole district had more than 3,000 hectares of cinnamon, however, now there are only about 500 hectares left. In recent years, cinnamon growers do not need to worry about output, while cinnamon prices are also very high. Accordingly, the price of dried cinnamon sticks is currently about 50,000 VND/kg and the price of small short cinnamon sticks is 33,000 VND/kg, and cinnamon chips are 23,000 VND/kg. According to people, although cinnamon prices are high and there is no concern about output, they are still not interested in planting more cinnamon trees because "cinnamon bandits" are too rampant.

People collect cinnamon to dry after it was stolen. Photo: Tien Hung

Discussing this issue, Mr. Duong Hoang Vu - Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee said that the district leaders have grasped information about this situation. "After hearing the information, we worked with Kim Son town and at the same time directed the police to investigate," Mr. Vu said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hoang Trung Cuong - Chairman of Kim Son Town People's Committee said that the town government did not know this information. "We have no information. The town police have not received any reports from citizens. Up to now, the town has not seen any cinnamon theft case," Mr. Cuong said.