Hong Kong: Customs seize 769kg of ivory tusks

The haul, which came from West Africa, is the third in three months
Clifford Lo, South China Morning Post, 3 Oct 13;


The ivory tusks were found in three containers, wrapped up and hidden beneath bags of soya beans. Photo: David Wong

Traffickers are using new methods to smuggle illegal ivory tusks into the city, a senior customs official said yesterday as he announced the third seizure of tusks in three months.

The 769kg haul of 189 pieces was hidden in three 20-foot containers labelled as soya beans that came from Ivory Coast, West Africa, via Malaysia on September 14 and 19. The banned tusks would have fetched HK$11.5 million on Asia's black market.

The Customs and Excise Department ports and maritime command head Vincent Wong Sui-hang said the containers were picked out for X-ray inspection because soya imports from the country were rare and hence raised officers' suspicions.

The haul was discovered after the officers opened the containers. Upon inspection, the tusks - some whole and some in pieces - were found wrapped in linen and nylon bags in the innermost part of the containers, hidden under bags of soya beans.

Officers believe an international smuggling ring is behind the three shipments because the shipper was the same.

"Instead of one shipment, the smugglers broke the consignment into three shipments and used different vessels and different consignees in an effort to evade customs detection," Wong said, adding that it was the first time in recent years that banned tusks were found being smuggled into the city from Ivory Coast.

He believes the consignment was destined for an Asian country. No one has yet been arrested in the operation.

Some of the tusks found in the haul measured more than two metres in length.

They were believed to have been removed from slaughtered bush African elephants, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said.

The department's endangered species protection officer Azaria Wong Kam-yan said the haul of tusks probably cost the lives of tens of mature, young African elephants.

Although this seizure was the city's third in three months, customs officials denied that Hong Kong had become a regional hub for the illegal trade.

The authorities intercepted two shipments of ivory totalling 4.4 tonnes in July and August. Officers also seized 1.3 tonnes of smuggled tusks in January.

"We don't have intelligence or concrete information showing that there is an increasing trend of ivory smuggling," Wong said.

The senior superintendent said the customs department was determined to and capable of smashing the smuggling activities in the city,

Last year, customs officials intercepted three shipments with a total seizure of 5.1 tonnes of illegal ivory tusks.


Hong Kong nabs $1.5M in ivory in 3rd big bust since July
Associated Press, 3 Oct 13;



Elephant tusks are displayed after being confiscated by Hong Kong Customs in Hong Kong Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. Hong Kong customs agents have seized nearly a ton of illegal ivory worth about $1.5 million in the third big bust of endangered species products in three months. Officials said Thursday that they found a total of 189 elephant tusks weighing 769 kilograms (1,695 pounds) at the southern Chinese city's busy port. The ivory, shipped from Cote d'Ivoire and transited through Malaysia, was wrapped in linen and nylon bags and hidden in large bags of soybeans in containers on three separate ships. Officials said the likely final destination was mainland China. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong customs agents have seized nearly a ton of illegal ivory worth about $1.5 million, officials said Thursday, in the city's third big bust of endangered species products in three months.

Customs officials said they found a total of 189 elephant tusks weighing 769 kilograms (1,695 pounds) at the southern Chinese city's busy port in anti-smuggling operations carried out in late September.

The ivory was wrapped in linen and nylon bags and hidden in large bags of soybeans in containers on three separate ships, said Vincent Wong, head of Ports and Maritime Command.

The shipments came from Cote d'Ivoire and transited through Malaysia. Officials said the likely final destination was mainland China.

No arrests have been made and authorities are looking for the smugglers, Wong said.

It's the latest in a string of illegal ivory shipments uncovered by Hong Kong authorities over the past few years.

Wildlife activists say China's growing presence in Africa has led to a huge surge in poaching of elephants for their tusks, most of which are believed to be smuggled into China and Thailand to make ivory ornaments.

Wong said the smugglers changed their methods after three other big shipments from Africa were confiscated in Hong Kong this year.

"The smugglers tried a different modus operandi," Wong said. "Instead of one shipment they packed the bulk into three shipments for different consignees. They used different vessels on different voyages to try to evade customs inspections."

In August, Hong Kong officials seized illegal ivory, rhino horns and leopard skins worth $5.3 million in a shipment that came from Nigeria. In late July, they found two tons of tusks worth $2.25 million in a container from Togo. In January, a shipment of ivory worth $1.4 million from Kenya was confiscated.