Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV) "is very pleased to see many heavy sanctions (...) against wildlife traffickers", said the group's deputy director.
"Wildlife traffickers will only be deterred by increased legal risks," Bui Thi Ha added.
Ninh Ba Dien, 36, was arrested last April at the Vietnamese capital's International Airport.
According to a statement from ENV, the man was hired to transport, from Angola to Vietnam, two packages with a total of 12 kilograms of rhino horns and five kilograms of elephant ivory.
One of the packages was intercepted in transit in Qatar.
Vietnam is both a major market and a transit hub for illegal wildlife trafficking, and experts have long accused Vietnamese authorities of turning a blind eye.
Rhino horn powder is used to try to cure malaise caused by excessive alcohol consumption and various illnesses in Vietnam and China.
More than 60 tons of ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horns have been seized in major Vietnamese ports since 2018, according to an ENV report dated 2021.
