The smugglers used more sophisticated tactics than previous shipments by packing wax around the ivory when it was sealed inside emptied-out timber and using wood nails to evade X-ray checks, said the newspaper, published by the General Department of Customs.

Le Dinh Loi, the city’s deputy customs chief confirmed the report, but did not give more details on Friday.

The seizure came just a week after leaders and senior officials from more than 40 countries met at an international conference on illegal wildlife trade in Hanoi.

Vietnam is one of the world’s major transit points and consumers of ivory and rhino horn.

Elephant ivory is used as jewellery and home decorations in Vietnam, which bans hunting of its own dwindling population of elephants.

– with other agencies