A police officer in Thanh Hoa Province, northern Vietnam, reads out the prosecution decision to three men accused of slaughtering and selling African swine fever-infected pork. Photo: Thanh Hoa Department of Public Security
The investigative police agency under the Thanh Hoa Department of Public Security on Thursday confirmed the prosecution of Nguyen Khac Nguyen, 60, Nguyen Van Chien, 42, and Le Van Trung, 44, for violating food safety regulations.
The charges followed a raid by police on a livestock slaughter facility owned by Chien in the province’s Hoang Loc Commune on March 31.
During the inspection, officers found three pigs that had already been slaughtered and partially processed, with a total weight of 384.5 kilograms.
They also discovered eight live pigs kept in pens, showing signs of ASF and awaiting slaughter, with a combined weight of 452 kilograms.
Test results confirmed that all the pigs were infected with the virus that causes ASF, a highly contagious and deadly disease among swine.
Investigators later determined that all the pigs belonged to Nguyen, who had raised them on his farm.
Despite noticing signs of ASF in his herd, Nguyen allegedly failed to report it to authorities and instead sold the pigs at a low price to Trung.
Trung then resold them to Chien, who is accused of arranging their slaughter and sale on the market for profit.
Investigators said pork from ASF-infected pigs is banned from the food supply and must be destroyed.
The case remains under investigation.
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