HANOI: Two Vietnamese women have been jailed for illegally trading endangered and rare turtles in large quantities in the central province of Quang Nam, Xinhua quoted Vietnam News Agency report on Wednesday.
The duo from Quang Nam's Thang Binh and Phuoc Son districts were sentenced to 10 years and three years in prison, respectively.
In October 2021, the woman from Thang Binh district was caught red-handed for illegally possessing 12 endangered turtles, including 10 Bourret's box turtles (Cuora bourreti) and two big-headed turtles (Platysternon megacephalum) at her home. Part of the reptiles were sold by the other woman.
Both Bourret's box turtle and big-headed turtle are rare and endangered species which are subject to protection at the highest level under the law. Keeping, trading and transporting them are prohibited in Vietnam, the news agency reported.
In the Southeast Asian country, any act of illegally hunting, killing, raising, confining, possessing, transporting, or trading rare and endangered species or their parts and products is a serious violation of the law and may be subject to prosecution, the news agency said. -Bernama