HANOI: Customs officers in Vietnam seized two ivory statues in a consignment of furniture from France, an official said on Thursday.
“We have seized so many elephants tusks smuggled through Tan Son Nhat airport, but this is the first time we have discovered this kind of smuggling,” Doan Son Tung, deputy spokesman of the Ho Chi Minh Customs Department told dpa.
The consignment, which contained a reference to “decorative statues” on the customs form, had been sent by air from France and was due to be sent on to Ho Chi Minh City.
Tests revealed they were made of white African elephant ivory, totalling 2.31kg.
The two statues will be destroyed, customs officials said. Ivory has been banned from import or export in Vietnam since 1992.
