Two women have been charged with running an alleged criminal enterprise that smuggled thousands of tonnes of chicken feet from countries with active poultry diseases, with large quantities found to be dangerous and mouldy.
Confessions in Chicken Feet Cartel
The two Vietnamese women, Nguyễn Thị Tố Loan, 47, and Trang Tuyết Ngọc, 45, have reportedly confessed to their involvement in this so-called chicken feet cartel. The alleged kingpins admitted to overseeing an operation that saw millions of pounds worth of the product smuggled across international borders.
The pair allegedly used a loophole in Vietnam's import law which allowed them to bring potentially diseased products into the country under the pretence that they were to be processed for international trade. However, the feet were in fact distributed internally.
Scale of the Operation
An investigation by Vietnamese police found that the pair had overseen the illegal importation of around 340 containers of chicken feet between 2023 and 2026, weighing a total of around 10,000 metric tonnes, the equivalent of about 88 jumbo jets, according to a report by Vietnam News. The total value of the imported feet has been estimated at around 347 billion Vietnamese Dong, or approximately £10,000,000. No import duty was paid on any of the feet.
To make matters worse, during police raids of storage warehouses containing feet ready for shipping, around one in four batches were found to have expired, with many displaying signs of mould and releasing a foul smell.
Company Front
The pair are accused of running the criminal operation under the company name ABF Food Import-Export JSC.
The news comes months after the UK was embroiled in its own illegal meat importation scandal, with importers neglecting to bring meat imported into Britain to a border control post in Sevington, instead driving straight into the country. In November 2025, it was found that nearly one in five animal products, including shipments of meat and dairy, that were meant to be checked at the border post never made it there.
Alistair Carmichael, chair of the committee, told Emily Beament, environment correspondent at the Press Association: “This new evidence from Defra paints a picture of a dysfunctional system. Unchecked meat and plant products carrying potentially devastating diseases are being let in through the front door. The risks to our livestock and plants are grave and very real.” He added: “Both the horticultural and livestock sectors see this as a disaster waiting to happen.”
