Vietnamese police on Friday arrested the director of a private company for illegally exporting titanium to China.
Le Van Chien, the 33-year-old director of Trung Viet Export-Import and Investment Company based in the central province of Binh Dinh, was charged with smuggling and is detained pending investigations.
According to the police, Chien hired three companies to buy seventy-five-thousand tons of crude titanium between 2009 and 2010 when he was an officer of Binh Dinh Province Customs Department.
He allegedly faked papers to prove the titanium ore was meant for trading inside Vietnam.
After he quit the job, he opened his own company earlier this year. Chien then hired cargo ships to sneakily transport the titanium to China from Quy Nhon Port, according to the police, who are still investigating the case.
Companies that export titanium ore and other kinds of mineral resources must satisfy certain requirements under Vietnam's Mineral Resources Law.
Reported by Dinh Phu
