The pangolins are found by the police in Ha Tinh Province. Photo by VnExpress.

Nguyen Thi Huong bought 215 Javan pangolins from a Laotian woman in January last year, hired 11 people to transport them in trucks to her house, held them captive and sold them, according to the Huong Son District People’s Court in the central province.

Besides the jail sentences, five people were also fined a total of VND300 million ($12,950).

Trafficking of pangolins is not uncommon in Vietnam, where they are legally protected and classified as endangered.

They are sought after in the country and its neighbors for their meat and the alleged medicinal properties of their scales.