Three boats illegally extracting sand and gravel on the Lam River have been seized.
(Baonghean.vn) - Three iron-hulled boats engaged in illegal sand and gravel mining on the Lam River, in the section passing through Anh Son district, have been discovered and temporarily seized by authorities.
At 5:30 AM on May 14th, the Environmental Police Department (Nghe An Provincial Police) cracked down on case 618C, discovering several individuals using three iron-hulled boats to illegally extract sand and gravel on the Lam River, in the section passing through Vinh Son and Long Son communes, Anh Son district.
 |
| Leaders of the Environmental Police Department (Provincial Police) work with the owner of a boat illegally extracting gravel. Photo: Duc Vu. |
The first boat was piloted by Mr. Pham Van Ngoc, born in 1967; his son, Pham Van Loi, born in 1993, was also on board, both residing in Hamlet 1, Lang Son Commune (Anh Son District). The second boat, carrying four people, was piloted by Mr. Vo Van Thanh, born in 1963, residing in Lang Son Commune. Both boats, after illegally extracting gravel on the Lam River in Vinh Son Commune, were discovered by the police while selling the gravel at Tu Hai Wharf. The third boat, piloted by Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, born in 1993, and his younger brother, both residing in Long Son Commune, were caught red-handed while directly involved in illegal gravel extraction in Long Son Commune.
 |
| Illegal sand and gravel mining has caused serious erosion on both banks of the river in Long Son commune, Anh Son district. Photo: Duc Vu |
The Environmental Police Department, in coordination with other functional units, conducted an inspection to determine the quantity of gravel on all three boats. Accordingly, Mr. Pham Van Ngoc's boat had extracted more than 10 cubic meters of gravel.3Tuan's boat extracted over 19 cubic meters of gravel.3and Mr. Thanh's boat extracted more than 26 meters.3Upon inspecting three boats engaged in illegal gravel mining, the owners were unable to produce any legal documents for the boats or boat licenses.
All three boats use high-powered suction pumps with 6-meter-long hoses to directly suck up sand and gravel. Gravel extraction usually takes place in the early morning.
 |
| The amount of gravel illegally mined on the boats was discovered by the police. Photo: Duc Vu |
Currently, the Environmental Police Department has temporarily seized all the vehicles and is consolidating the case file to prosecute the individuals in accordance with the law.
