A timber trafficking ring led by Ha 'the Black' from Nghe An province has been exposed.

After a day of investigation, with approximately 20 illegal loggers caught red-handed, the police identified Le Hong Ha (aka Ha "the Black", 48 years old, from Nghe An province) as the ringleader of the audacious illegal logging gang.

On the morning of July 9th, a task force from the Department of Environmental Crime Prevention and Control (C49B) and the Mobile Police Command (K20) of the Ministry of Public Security announced that they are coordinating with police in several provinces to investigate the operation of a group of illegal loggers that has been active for about two years in Bao Lam district (Lam Dong province).

The task force of the Ministry of Public Security is handing over the illegal loggers and seized evidence to the authorities of Lam Dong province - Photo: SON BINH

Colonel Vo Van Dong, Deputy Director of the Department of Environmental Crime Prevention and Control (C49B) of the Ministry of Public Security, said that C49B had directed its investigators to launch a simultaneous operation, uncovering a criminal gang that had been illegally exploiting timber for many years in Bao Lam district (Lam Dong province).

The illegal loggers took advantage of the rugged terrain, remoteness from residential areas, and lax management by authorities to organize a professional deforestation operation. They entered sub-area 390, belonging to Loc Bac Forestry Station (Bao Lam district), and destroyed forests around the Dong Nai 5 Hydropower Plant.

In the early morning of July 8th, C49B caught approximately 20 illegal loggers in the act. The loggers admitted to their illegal activities and stated that they were working for a man named Ha "the Black".

The longest tenure for an illegal logger in a group is about two years, while the shortest is between two and six months. Skilled loggers who directly cut down trees and saw timber are paid between 10 and 15 million VND per month. Those who load and transport the illegally logged timber earn between 6 and 10 million VND per month.

The illegal loggers confessed that the timber they had illegally harvested from Ha "the Black" was smuggled and transported for sale in Bu Dang district (Binh Phuoc province).

The task force, in coordination with the Binh Phuoc Provincial Police, conducted an administrative inspection of a timber purchasing facility in Bu Dang district.

Police inspect a facility suspected of illegally purchasing timber in Bao Loc City, Lam Dong Province - Photo: SON BINH

Initially, authorities seized 40 cubic meters of undocumented timber, believed to have been purchased from "Ha" and related individuals. The facility also possessed 60 cubic meters of timber with proper documentation, but suspicions of forged documents are currently being investigated.

At the same time, investigations will continue into timber purchasing companies in Bao Loc City (Lam Dong province) that bought illegally logged timber from Ha "the Black"...

According to TTO