Difficult family situation of the director of the company that imported more than 10 tons of ivory

In mid-November, as usual, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Su (44 years old, Doan Ket hamlet, Nghia Xuan commune, Quy Hop) was busy with electrical repair work for villagers. There were not many customers, the work did not bring in high income to support his family, on his free days, Mr. Su also worked as a "handyman", that is, he did whatever he was hired to do. In addition, according to the leader of Nghia Xuan commune, for many years Mr. Su has also been a militiaman of the commune.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Su. Photo: HT

Looking at Mr. Su's family background, no one would think that he is the director of a company that was recently discovered smuggling more than 10 tons of ivory from Africa to Vietnam.

Accordingly, on October 4, Da Nang City Police coordinated with the Economic Police Department (Ministry of Public Security), Border Guard and Da Nang Customs to inspect and discover a shipment of more than 10 tons of cut ivory, pangolin scales and plastic waste fromNigeriadoing import procedures at Tien Sa port.

The amount of ivory seized over the last month in Da Nang.

The shipment was identified as belonging to Thien Truong Su Company Limited, whose registered business headquarters is in Nghia Xuan Commune, Quy Hop District, Nghe An Province. The company’s director is Mr. Nguyen Xuan Su. However, according to the director, he was completely unaware of this “huge deal” as well as any other activities of the company.

Mr. Su said that his nephew asked him to register the Thien Truong Su Company. Thinking that they were uncle and nephew, he did not suspect anything, and did not know what industry it was in.

“I only photocopied my ID card and signed the application to establish the company. My signature was just Su’s, but I didn’t know how the company operated. I only found out when I heard that the shipment under my name was seized, but I didn’t know anything else. I also don’t receive any salary from the company, I don’t run the company every day, so I don’t know how the company operates, how many people it has…”, Mr. Su said.

Mr. Su's house. Photo: HT

This man said that the nephew who asked him to register was Le Anh Tuan (34 years old, also living in Nghia Xuan commune). Tuan used to have a transportation business, then went to work somewhere far away, he did not know.

“I tried to contact him to ask him about the whole story but couldn’t get in touch with him, no one knew where he was. The police invited me to Da Nang for a week to give a statement, I told them everything like you guys, then the police let me go home…”, Mr. Su said.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Truong Van Chinh - Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Xuan commune said that when newspapers and radio stations published news about the seizure of a shipment of 10 tons of illegal ivory and pangolin scales, the local government learned that Thien Truong Su Company existed.

"If there is a large enterprise like this in the locality, the locality must be very happy, at least it can pay some taxes to the locality, create jobs or do social security work," said Mr. Chinh.

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Xuan Commune said that Mr. Su had a difficult situation, his mother was old and sick, he had just gotten married a year ago and had no children. The house of this "reluctant director" was located deep in a dirt and stone alley, a normal level 4 house different from other directors. In the house below, the old mother had been sick for many years and was lying down crying because of the pain, the newlywed wife had just returned from somewhere, she smiled and said "the director's wife is asking for vegetables for dinner, guys", in her hand was a handful of sweet potato leaves that had just been picked from the neighbor's house.

Mr. Dinh Trong Thuong - Head of Nghia Xuan Commune Police said that after the incident, Da Nang Police and Quy Hop Police came to the locality to learn about the company's identity and operations. Up to now, no one knows how the company operates. Mr. Su was questioned by the police many times, summoned to Da Nang for questioning and then sent home. Up to now, Mr. Su has shown no signs of violating the law and is also a gentle person.