On 25/3, Nguyen Thi Hien, 31 years old, owner of a slaughterhouse in Nam Phu commune, Hanoi, was arrested and charged with violating food safety regulations. Also charged with the same offense are Do Van Thanh, a resident of the province, Nguyen Thi Binh, and Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Cuong Phat Food Company Limited.

The defendants at the investigative agency. Photo: Hanoi Police.

In this case, three officials from the Hanoi Sub-department of Livestock, Fisheries, and Veterinary Medicine were indicted for abuse of position and power to appropriate assets. They are Le Ngoc Anh, 52 years old, Head of the Diagnostic, Testing, and Slaughter Control Center, along with two subordinates: Nguyen Phong Nam, 43 years old, and Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 42 years old.

Vu Kim Tuan, 53 years old, an official from the Phu Tho Provincial Sub-department of Livestock, Fisheries, and Veterinary Medicine, was charged with falsification in official duties.

Previously, on 17/3, the Economic Police Department of Hanoi City Police inspected pig slaughtering operations at Hien's facility within the Van Phuc Centralized Livestock Slaughter Facility. This location is a major supplier of pork to wholesale markets, local markets, and large food supply companies in the city.

The team discovered Hien was slaughtering pigs infected with african swine fever. This operation involved a tightly coordinated "closed-loop network" from collecting diseased pigs in provinces such as Phu Tho and Tuyen Quang, transporting them to Hanoi, centralized slaughtering, and then distributing them to the market.

Inside Hien's slaughterhouse at the Van Phuc Centralized Livestock Slaughter Facility. Photo: Hanoi Police.

They colluded with several quarantine officials to bypass mandatory control procedures, allowing diseased pigs, and even dead pigs, to be slaughtered.

Investigators allege that since early 2026, the group has distributed approximately 3,600 diseased pigs (equivalent to nearly 300 tons). This meat was supplied to wholesale markets, local markets, and sold to Cuong Phat Food Company Limited, which in turn provided food to several schools within Hanoi.