Police bust ring selling 400 tonnes of meat from diseased, dead pigs in southern Vietnam

Seven of the nine suspects belonged to a ring allegedly led by 51-year-old Tran Van Hung, a resident of Xuan Loc Ward, while the two others were Nguyen Thi Thu Phuong, a pork trader, and Pham Thi Han, a producer of Vietnamese pork rolls, local police said on Wednesday.

All nine suspects have been detained and prosecuted on charges of violating food safety regulations.

Police said their initial investigation showed that the group had collected and slaughtered around 400 metric tons of diseased and dead pigs and sold the meat for human consumption since 2024, generating more than VND10 billion (nearly $387,000) in illicit profits.

The case came to light in September, when local police detected a network collecting, transporting, and slaughtering diseased and dead pigs in Xuan Loc Ward, Xuan Hoa Commune, and nearby areas.

On October 5, police inspected five locations linked to the operation and seized around seven metric tons of meat from dead pigs contaminated with African swine fever virus, along with other evidence.

According to initial investigations, Hung directed Trinh Thanh Lam, a ring member, to buy dead pigs and transport them to Hung's slaughtering facility in Xuan Loc.

Hung and his wife, Huynh Thi Hieu Em, another ring member, directed other suspects to slaughter the animals and cut the meat into pork belly, lean meat, and leg cuts.

The ring sold the meat to Phuong at prices ranging from VND25,000 ($0.96) to VND40,000 ($1.54) per kilogram, and Phuong then resold it directly to consumers for VND35,000 ($1.35) to VND55,000 ($2.12) per kilogram.

Han bought some of the meat to make Vietnamese pork rolls for sale.

Both Phuong and Han knew that the meat they bought had come from diseased and dead pigs, investigators said.

The ring also processed the skin and fat of dead pigs and sold them to consumers.

Investigators are expanding their probe to identify others involved in the case.