Vietnam Customs to Prosecute Smuggled Timber Case

Vietnam's La Lay Customs Branch is launching legal action involving the illegal smuggling of tracwood, rosewood and chalkstone worth over $165,000, the state-run CustomsNews reported. Vietnamese Customs found the smuggled wood at the La Lay Border Gate in central Vietnam on the border with Laos, after inspecting seven container trucks registered to An Tran Import and Export Co., Ltd. The company was found to have made false declarations on the types of wood on board, some of it rare and precious wood. The report also said that the "containers held nearly 11,000 kg of ice (suspected to be chalkstone) without an import declaration." The legal action follows an interdisciplinary meeting between the Quang Tri Customs Department and the People's Procurary of various provinces, CustomsNews said.