Just last week, a National Urgent Response (NUR) alert was circulated in Malaysia informing the public of yet another case of a missing girl, Fulmina Abdul Ghufur. The 11-year-old Myanmar national went missing on 15 February after she went to a shop and did not return home. A NUR alert is used to spread information quickly and as fast as possible to help trace missing children (below 12 years of age) who could be victims of crime or abuse.
Nearly 900,000 pangolins are believed to have been trafficked across Southeast Asia in the past two decades, a wildlife watchdog said Thursday, highlighting the challenge in tackling the illicit trade.As the world's most heavily trafficked mammal, the creatures are targeted for their body parts which are highly valued in traditional medicine in countries including China and Vietnam, and their meat is seen as a delicacy.Also known as the scaly anteater, the shy, primarily nocturnal animal
Vietnam seized more than two tonnes of ivory tusks and pangolin scales hidden inside wooden boxes shipped from Nigeria, state media reported Tuesday.The bust comes at the end of a year of big wildlife seizures destined for communist Vietnam, a hotbed of the illicit but lucrative trade in animal parts from elephants, pangolins, tigers and rhinos.Authorities in northern Hai Phong city found 330 kilograms of ivory and 1.7 tonnes of pangolin scales after checking three container shipments from Ni
Throngs of weeping relatives on Thursday buried the first of 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a truck in Britain last month, in emotional ceremonies for the young victims whose deaths have rattled their rural towns.The first of the remains arrived in Vietnam from London on a commercial flight Wednesday, closing a weeks-long, agonising wait by families eager to have their children back home. All 31 men and eight women found dead in a refrigerated trailer in Essex last month were Vie
Holed up alone in a suburban British house thousands of miles from home, cannabis farmer Cuong Nguyen spent months carefully nurturing his plants, one of thousands of Vietnamese migrants working in the UK's multi-billion dollar weed industry.Cuong - who is now 41 - slipped into Britain illegally, hidden under a lorry before going on to grow cannabis in homes, hotels and even a stable.His dangerous journey from the poor, rough Vietnamese port town of Haiphong to Britain's illegal can
55 pieces of rhino horn were found encased in plaster at an airport in the Vietnamese capital, authorities said Sunday, as the country tries to crack down on sophisticated wildlife smuggling routes.The communist state is both a consumption hub and popular transit point for the multibillion-dollar trade in animal parts.The 125-kilogram (275 pound) haul of rhino horn discovered at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport on Thursday was found after the carefully disguised shipment aroused suspicion.Images
