Hanoi police arrest firm director over distribution of 10,000 tonnes of unsafe chicken feet

The municipal Department of Public Security announced on Friday that investigators had charged and arrested Nguyen Thi To Loan, 47, director of An Binh Trading Development and Import Export JSC, a subsidiary of An Binh Group, and Trang Tuyet Ngoc, 45, head of the group’s executive assistance division.

Both are being investigated on smuggling charges.

The arrests follow a series of inspections and searches conducted in early June at warehouses in Quang Minh Industrial Park in Hanoi and at the THL cold-storage facility in Lang Son Province, northern Vietnam.

At the An Viet 2 cold-storage warehouse, operated by An Viet Hanoi Co., Ltd., officers discovered more than 1,000 metric tons of chicken feet, with 260 metric tons of frozen chicken feet found to have expired and covered with white mold.

The products were intended for sale to consumers.

At the THL cold-storage warehouse, police seized an additional 1,030 metric tons of chicken feet.

According to investigators, between 2023 and 2026, An Binh Trading Development and Import Export JSC, under Loan’s management, imported 339 containers of chicken feet under the processing and re-export scheme.

The shipments totaled some 12,070 metric tons and were valued at nearly VND350 billion (US$13.3 million).

Investigators allege that after importing the products, the company failed to change the declared purpose of use or pay the required taxes.

Instead, Loan allegedly instructed Ngoc to sell more than 10,000 metric tons of the imported chicken feet directly to the domestic market.

Officers said a significant portion of the imported products originated from countries affected by poultry disease outbreaks or from sources that did not meet Vietnam’s food safety import requirements.

Such products were not included on the list of goods eligible for import into Vietnam.

Motivated by profit, Loan supplied the chicken feet to restaurants, eateries, and other food businesses throughout the country.

The case remains under investigation.

Officers are expanding inquiries to determine the involvement of additional suspects and to examine the responsibilities of relevant regulatory agencies in connection with the alleged smuggling operation.