Yahoo News 29 Jul 09;
HANOI (AFP) – Vietnamese customs officials have uncovered 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of elephant ivory tusks illegally imported from Kenya, official media reported Wednesday.
The tusks were found hidden in timber inside a container at the northern Hai Phong port, said Cong An Nhan Dan (People's Police) newspaper.
Authorities are seeking the owner of the container, who did not turn up to receive the goods when they arrived in April, the newspaper said. It did not say who was listed as the receiver, or give a street value for the ivory.
Officials from Hai Phong Customs Bureau refused to comment to AFP on the case.
Communist Vietnam banned the ivory trade in 1992 but shops can still sell old stocks dating from before then, and ivory-based products sell well to buyers from both Vietnam and from elsewhere in Asia.
Last week in Tanzania six businessmen were charged with smuggling 11 tonnes of elephant ivory, worth around 600,000 dollars, to the Philippines and Vietnam over the previous six months.
