Hong Kong Customs Bust Illegal Ivory Shipment
Hong Kong customs officials have seized a massive haul of illegal ivory weighing nearly a ton and worth approximately $1.5 million, making it the third biggest seizure of such products in the last three months.
According to Hong Kong customs agents, there were a total of 189 elephant tusks found weighing 769 kilos. The contraband was wrapped in linen and placed in nylon bags hidden in shipments of soybeans that were placed on three separate ships.
The ships transited through Malaysia and originated from Cote d’Ivoire and were likely on their way to mainland China as their final destination.
No arrests have been made and Hong Kong customs officials are still on the lookout for the smugglers.
This is not the first such seizure this year with Hong Kong authorities uncovering a string of illegal ivory shipments.
Activists say that the increasing presence of China on the African continent has contributed to a huge surge in poaching elephants for their ivory tusks. Most ivory is smuggled to Thailand and China where they are fashioned into ornaments.
Back in August officials in Hong Kong seized leopard skins, rhino horns and illegal ivory worth an estimated $5.3 million in a shipment that originated from Nigeria. In late July officials uncovered a two ton shipment of ivory worth approximately $2.25 million.
