Arrested Head of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Gio Linh district

On the afternoon of January 28, the Investigation Police Agency of Gio Linh District, Quang Tri Province, issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Gio Linh District, Director of the Management Board of Project 661 Nam Ben Hai to investigate and clarify the crime of "Violating regulations on forest management" (Article 176, Penal Code).

The police also carried out a search warrant at Mr. Thanh's office and his private home in Ward 2, Gio Linh Town, Gio Linh District, and seized a number of related documents. Previously, Mr. Thanh and Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoat, Deputy Director of the 661 Nam Ben Hai Project Management Board, were temporarily suspended from work by the Gio Linh District People's Committee due to their involvement in the above violations.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh (white shirt, right cover) was arrested for investigation on the charge of "Violating regulations on forest management".

From 2010 to September 2012, nearly 1,000 hectares of 13-15 year old forest, belonging to the State's 327 and 661 afforestation projects in Gio Linh district, were sold to private enterprises by Mr. Thanh and a number of officials, leaders from the district to the province and provincial functional departments at extremely cheap prices, only from 2 to 2.3 million VND/ha. After the reflection of CAND Newspaper, the leaders of the District Party Committee, People's Committee and District Police quickly and actively investigated the case.

According to CAND online - LY