Many farmers in some coastal provinces of the Mekong Delta have been duped by traders into chopping down mangrove apple trees for high profits.
A few months ago, many residents living alongside rivers in Bac Lieu, Ca Mau and Soc Trang Provinces rushed to chop down their mangrove apple trees after word spread that these trees would fetch a high price in the market. However, they soon realized they were being duped when traders refused to buy from them.
Vo Thi Nga from Hoa Binh District in Bac Lieu Province was asked by a trader to sell mangrove apple trees in the beginning of this year, at VND50,000 a kilogram for the fruit and VND100,000 a kilogram for the trunks and branches.
The trader named Nguyen Chi Thanh, from Bac Lieu City, ordered Nga to provide 100 tons to him.
Nga excitedly spread the word in the coastal communes of Hoa Binh and Dong Hai Districts, sending local residents rushing to cut down trees along canals.
The same rumor spread to other districts in the province, leading to more people entering the mangrove forests to log trees. Many people also resorted to stockpiling trees to resell later.
When Nga transported the first 13 of 43 tons which she had already stockpiled at that time to Thanh, he did a u-turn and refused to purchase.
Nga then went to Thanh’s house accompanied with some people to demand payment, but his wife paid Nga only VND40 million (US$1,900) and refused any further payment.
While investigating the case, police in Bac Lieu Province found that Thanh had bought the mangrove trees as ordered by his brother-in-law Pham Tuan Kiet, a resident of District 6 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Kiet claimed that he had been ordered by Phan Ngoc Long from Ben Tre Province who said he had a huge demand for mangrove apple trees for medicinal and export purposes.
Long claimed to be working at the Viet Am Company in Tan Binh District of HCMC.
Kiet and Long did not have any legal contract. After purchasing the mangrove apple trees, Kiet contacted Long but he had disappeared. Kiet went to Viet Am Company and was told that Long was never a staff member there.
Police in Bac Lieu Province have transferred the case to the HCMC Police Department for further investigation.
Nguyen Chi Lang, deputy director of the Police Department in Bac Lieu Province has warned farmers not to believe in traders without first verifying information and has also asked local authorities to provide better awareness to farmers.
