One subject was fined 500 million VND for buying and selling king cobras.

Previously, Le Thi P. went to see a fortune teller and was told that she had to raise a king cobra so that her husband would “listen” to her. She then went on Facebook to buy a king cobra for 10 million VND.

After buying the snake, the subject released it into the pond behind the house and covered it tightly. However, fearing that the snake would attack and cause danger, subject P. decided to sell the snake. After posting it on Facebook and finding a buyer for 31 million, the subject asked Mr. Do Van D. to catch it, kill it, and soak it in alcohol.

Evidence seized by Lam Thao District Police (Photo: CAND Newspaper)

On the way to transport the snake soaked in alcohol to the delivery location, the subject was discovered and arrested in Lam Thao district, Phu Tho province.

The king cobra is listed in Appendix I, List of endangered, precious and rare species prioritized for protection, issued together with Decree 64/2019/ND-CP of the Government. Accordingly, any act of hunting, killing, transporting, trading, illegally keeping king cobras or illegally storing, trading, transporting king cobras, products and parts from them are all acts of violating criminal law and can be punished with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for individuals according to the provisions of Article 244 of the Penal Code 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2017).

King cobra is also a sought-after "item" because many people believe that king cobra wine has health benefits.

However, in the case of Le Thi P., because she blindly believed in the superstitious "prediction" of a fortune teller, she had to pay a high price for her actions.

Source: https://dttg.baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/xu-phat-1-doi-tuong-500-trieu-dong-vi-mua-ban-ran-ho-chua-358002.html