Head of the Customs Office in a district of the central province of Quang Nam has just been suspended after a large amount of rare timber was found at his workplace.

On July 17, the forest management board of Nam Giang District found more than 100 long pieces of timber with the majority being Fujian Cypress, a rare kind of tree, at the campus of the local Customs Office.

The wood found at the campus of the Nam Giang District's Customs Office

This amount of wood is suspected to have been illegally logged at the border area adjacent to Laos. Authorities of Quang Nam province are investigating the case following a report from local residents on July 9.

According to the residents, they saw many piles of timber on Nam Giang District's border areas. So, provincial authorities decided to suspend Head of the local the Customs Office Le Trung Thiduring the investigation.

Trinh explained that the wood was collected from many different sources; including part of which allegedly given by Lao policemen and customs officers who apparently had generously donated the rare and valuable wood for the construction of a temporary office for Nam Giang District's customs staff.

At an urgent meeting this morning, July 20, Vice Chairman of Quang Nam Province People's Committee Le Tri Thanh, said that the investigation has also discovered more piles of Fujian Cypress timber in the areas managed by Nam Giang District's border guard force. This may evidence of a major ring of illegal wood trading with the support of customs and border guard forces in border areas.