On 8/7, Thanh, 51 years old, a former veterinary quarantine officer, was sentenced to three years in prison by the People's Court of Area 3, Tay Ninh province, for bribery. For the same charge, Huynh Van Phan, 62 years old, a former technician, received two years and six months in prison.

Nguyen Van Hoi, 42 years old, the slaughterhouse manager, was also sentenced to one year and six months in prison for giving bribes.

The defendants at court. Photo: Nam An

According to the indictment, four years ago, the slaughterhouse in Duc Lap commune registered its business, then leased it to others. Nguyen Van Hoi was appointed manager by the lessee, overseeing the number of pigs slaughtered and collecting fees from clients. For each pig brought to the slaughterhouse, Hoi collected 130,000 VND. After retaining 50,000 VND, he would remit 80,000 VND to the owner.

At that time, Thanh was a quarantine officer, and Huynh Van Phan was an animal disease diagnosis technician at the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Station of Duc Hoa district, part of the Sub-Department of Animal Husbandry, Veterinary, and Fisheries of Long An province.

These two officials were assigned to control slaughtering and issue animal quarantine certificates for animals leaving the province.

While managing the slaughterhouse, Hoi contacted and negotiated with Thanh to legitimize documentation for pigs of unknown origin, which lacked quarantine certificates for transport out of the province. They agreed that for each pig without quarantine papers, 10,000 VND would be given to Thanh. After receiving the money from Hoi, Thanh would share it with Phan.

The group's modus operandi involved fabricating animal origin and animal product transportation documents within the province. They also concocted information about sellers and transit warehouses belonging to a livestock company. Thanh prepared these documents on a computer, printed them, filled in the details, and signed them himself.

From late 11/2024 to early 2025, Hoi facilitated the slaughter of over 9,600 pigs from various clients that lacked inbound quarantine certificates. Subsequently, Hoi transferred nearly 130 million VND to Thanh's account 22 times, and Thanh, in turn, transferred nearly 45 million VND to Phan nine times.

On 12/1/2025, the Environmental Crime Prevention Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security conducted a surprise inspection of the slaughterhouse. They discovered over 150 live pigs and more than 80 slaughtered pigs that had been stamped and certified, ready for consumption. Upon finding numerous dead pigs with signs of illness, the inspection team collected samples of cut pork and live pigs for testing. The results showed that batches of samples tested positive for African swine fever virus and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (European strain).

Two months later, the case files were transferred to the Long An Provincial Police Investigation Agency for regulatory investigation.

In court, the defendants admitted their actions. The trial panel concluded that their violations threatened public health, posed a danger to society, and undermined the proper functioning of state agencies and organizations, thus requiring strict penalties as a deterrent.

Hoang Nam