The Bac Kan Province People’s Court found Nguyen Van Ba, 26, guilty of violating "regulations on the management and protection of endangered, rare animals," Voice of Vietnam reported.

In December last year the police had found Ba on a local bus with a suitcase containing six frozen pangolins weighing totally around 17.8 kg.

Ba said he was delivering the carcasses from Nghe An Province to Cao Bang on the China border to an unidentified person for VND2.5 million ($107).

Pangolins are listed as endangered and protected in Vietnam, and it is illegal to hunt, kill, capture, possess, transport, or trade protected animals, and penalties include 15 years in prison and fines of up to VND15 billion ($645,000).

Pangolins are sought after in Vietnam and neighboring countries for their meat and alleged medicinal properties of their scales.