Ho Chi Minh City Environmental Police seized a total of 870 birds being smuggled through Tan Son Nhat Airport in two consignments on Monday.

The birds were detected in the airport’s domestic warehouse waiting to be sent to Hanoi, a police source said.

At 6 a.m., police found several cages containing a total of 470 parrots and mynas without certificates of origin that Nguyen Viet Dung, 30, planned to send to Nguyen Huu Chien in Hanoi.

Chien confessed he bought the birds from two unidentified women for VND180,000 (US$8.5) per parrot and VND35,000 per myna.

He hoped to re-sell them to Nguyen Quy Tuan in Hanoi.

At 10:30 a.m. the same day, police found another consignment of birds at the warehouse -- containing some 400 spotted doves. 

Those involved fled the site when police arrived.

According to the municipal environmental police, they had already been fined for smuggling wildlife.