Ten held over chicken thefts

HANOI: POLICE in southern Vietnam have arrested 10 men who posed as animal inspectors and confiscated chickens from local farmers so they could be used for cock-fighting, state media reported today.

Taking advantage of government instructions that all poultry within areas infected by bird flu be destroyed, the men split up into teams and raided villages in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre.

They were arrested on Sunday after angry farmers in the Cho Lach district discovered the ruse and reported them to police, the Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

The men confessed that within a three-day period they had collected and sold hundreds of chickens to cock-fighting dealers.

Cock-fights are common in Vietnam but betting on the results is illegal.

At least 12 people have died from outbreaks of bird flu in Vietnam and Thailand.

--Agencies 2004-02-03

There's nothin' quite like a good cockfight