Son-in-law masterminds, mother-in-law assists in billion-dollar illegal goods trafficking ring

Portrait of the "boss"

In Do Thanh commune, Yen Thanh district (now Dong Thanh commune, Nghe An province), Ho Van Manh (37 years old) was known as a businessman. But that was just a cover for this subject to carry out a series of large-scale wildlife trafficking cases. Manh connected with many subjects working abroad to find pangolin scales. After a few simple processing steps, Manh sold them to others to earn a large profit.

One of Manh's major business contacts is Le Quang Loi. Loi mainly does business in Laos, often bringing animal products, including pangolin scales, from Laos to Vietnam to sell. The two met during a trip. Between January and October 2023, Ho Van Manh bought pangolin scales from Loi 21 times, with a total volume of about 4 to 5 tons.

In the first few transactions, Manh drove his car directly to Loi's relative's house to pick up the pangolin scales and then brought them to his mother-in-law's house, Tran Thi Ngoc (57 years old). However, once they became close trading partners, Manh did not have to go and get the "goods" but had someone else take care of that. After each transaction, Manh transferred money to Loi's account. The total amount of money that the two parties transacted with each other was more than 17 billion VND.

In addition, Ho Van Manh also bought pangolin scales from Nguyen Thi Long (born in 1984) and Ho Mai Yen (born in 1980). This couple is from the same neighborhood as Manh and often does business in Laos. Manh knew that this couple had a source of pangolin scales brought from Laos to sell, so he became acquainted and exchanged phone numbers.

Every time there were pangolin scales, Yen contacted Manh to agree on the quantity and price. From February 2023 to April 2023, Manh bought from this couple 4 times, with a total of more than 937 kg of pangolin scales. The amount that the subjects paid each other was more than 4.2 billion VND. For each kg of pangolin scales, Yen and his wife earned about 100,000 VND.

In addition, Manh also bought a large amount of pangolin scales from Pham Thi Lap (born in 1981) and Cao Xuan Quy (born in 1988), both residing in Xuan Thap commune, Dien Chau district (now Quang Chau commune, Nghe An province).

The pangolin scales that Manh bought were only sold to two brothers in Mong Cai City (Quang Ninh) named Pham Hong Thai (36 years old) and Pham Thanh Binh (34 years old). These two people often stayed at Manh's house, all customers who bought pangolin scales from Manh had to go through this person. When there were customers, Thai and Binh took the goods to the bus to send. Ho Van Manh sold about 6,000 to 7,000 kg of pangolin scales to these two people.

Mother-in-law actively helps son-in-law

Ho Van Manh actively assisted in buying and selling pangolin scales was his mother-in-law, Mrs. Tran Thi Ngoc. Every time he bought pangolin scales, Manh would gather the sacks in his mother-in-law's house.

After that, Tran Thi Ngoc took on the task of cleaning pangolin scales. For each batch her son-in-law brought home, Ngoc would hire some women in the village to sift the dirt, clean it, and pack it into sacks for a salary of 300,000 VND/day.

On October 24, 2023, while Tran Thi Ngoc and two other women were sifting, sorting, and bagging pangolin scales, they were discovered and caught red-handed by the police. At the scene, the police seized more than 2,846 kg of pangolin scales.

During the investigation, the authorities determined that Ho Van Manh had purchased more than 7,160 kg of pangolin scales from the subjects, worth more than 35 billion VND. Of which, Manh had traded with Pham Thi Lap 1,539 kg of pangolin scales, worth more than 7.6 billion VND. Ho Van Manh bought more than 47 kg of pangolin scales from Cao Xuan Quy, worth 238 million VND.

According to Manh's statement, after purchasing the pangolin scales, he would sell them to Pham Hong Thai and Pham Thanh Binh. On June 26, 2023, the Nghe An Police Investigation Agency urgently searched the residence of both of them in Mong Cai City (Quang Ninh) but did not collect any documents related to the purchase of pangolin scales. The authorities have summoned these two subjects many times to clarify their actions, but both have denied buying pangolin scales from Manh.

... go to jail together

For the above crimes, the two defendants Tran Thi Ngoc and Ho Van Manh were prosecuted and brought to trial for the crimes of “Trafficking in prohibited goods” and “Violating regulations on the protection of endangered, precious and rare animals”. The defendants Pham Thi Lap, Ho Mai Yen, Nguyen Thi Long, and Cao Xuan Quy were prosecuted for the crime of Trading in prohibited goods.

At the recent first instance trial, the defendants admitted to trading pangolin scales for profit. When questioned, Ho Van Manh stated that he initially did not know that pangolin scales were prohibited from being traded. However, due to greed, the defendant still committed the crime. Defendant Manh had repeatedly illegally traded pangolin scales, earning large sums of money.

The accomplice in the case, defendant Tran Thi Ngoc, said she did not know that these were pangolin scales but thought they were scales of a sheep. This defendant said that because of their mother-in-law and son-in-law relationship, she helped Manh clean the dust from the bags of pangolin scales. The defendant also hired someone to do the work and received money from her son-in-law.

In court, the defendants expressed remorse for their crimes and asked the court to consider reducing their sentences. The couple, Yen and Long, presented their difficult circumstances and young children, asking for leniency from the State.

The panel of judges determined that the defendants’ actions violated the State’s economic management order and the management of prohibited goods in Vietnam. Pangolin scales are goods that are not allowed to be traded or traded. The actions of Manh and Ngoc also violated the State’s management regime on the protection of endangered, precious, and rare animals that are prioritized for protection, and seriously violated the ecological environment and biodiversity.

After considering the role of each defendant in the case, the panel sentenced Ho Van Manh to 6 years in prison for Trafficking in prohibited goods, 1 year in prison for Violating regulations on the protection of endangered, precious and rare animals; The total sentence that defendant Manh must serve is 7 years in prison. For the same two crimes, defendant Tran Thi Ngoc was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

For the crime of Trading in prohibited goods, the People's Court sentenced Pham Thi Lap and Ho Mai Yen to 3 years in prison each; Nguyen Thi Long to 2 years and 6 months in prison with a suspended sentence; and defendant Cao Xuan Quy to 15 months in prison with a suspended sentence.

Regarding Le Quang Loi, during the investigation of the case, this subject has not been present in the locality so the Investigation Agency has separated it into another case to continue investigating and handling.

The profits from wildlife trafficking have blinded many people, who disregard the law for their own gain. But the price to pay is years in prison, the loss of honor, freedom, and even family. The verdict in this case is a stark warning to anyone who still intends to embark on the path of illegal trafficking.