Vietnam: He was carrying 350 bottles of bear bile in his car

PostedJune 3, 2022, 09:58

Owner of seven plantigrades, a man was caught last week in the act of illegal trade.

Traditional Vietnamese and Chinese medicine credit bear bile with healing power.

AFP

Vietnamese police have seized a record 350 bottles of bear bile, a substance used in traditional medicine. Authorities in Vietnam, a major hub for illegal wildlife trafficking, in 2005 banned the extraction of bear bile. Existing farms were allowed to keep the animals they already owned. But apart from these cases, taking bile from a bear is punishable by five years in prison.

Police arrested a resident of Phuc Tho, a Hanoi suburb, last week as he was carrying 350 bottles of bear bile in his car. The man owned seven animals. According to the Hanoi Nature Education Foundation, this is the largest seizure ever made in the country.

“This is the first time a bear owner in Hanoi has been arrested and criminally investigated for transporting and illegally trading bear bile,” the chief executive said in a statement. foundation assistant, Bui Thi Ha. Traditional Vietnamese and Chinese medicine lend bear bile the power to heal bruises and cancer, and extend lifespan.

(AFP)