HONG KONG: Customs officers at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday confiscated 51kg of suspected ivory worth HK$510,000 in two packages sent by post from Zimbabwe – just five days after a similar seizure was made.
The parcels, which were sent from the southern African nation and arrived in Hong Kong via Amsterdam, were declared to be carrying “decorative tiles”.
“Suspicious images were found upon X-ray inspection. Customs officers opened the [two] parcels and found the suspected ivory pieces covered with sawdust,” a Customs spokesman said today.
Officers handed the case to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) for follow-up.
The previous case was detected at the airport last Wednesday when officers seized 24kg of suspected ivory concealed in a package from Zimbabwe. The haul was estimated to be worth HK$240,000.
“Hong Kong Customs will continue to work with the AFCD as well as Hongkong Post to combat the smuggling of endangered species by post,” the spokesman said.
The tactic was uncovered a fortnight after customs officers at the airport arrested a traveller from Nigeria with 15kg of suspected ivory products stashed inside the pockets of a tailor-made vest.
On August 7, an 18-year-old man arriving from Zimbabwe’s capital Harare was arrested with 15kg of ivory products. On July 27, officers caught a 27-year-old man who had arrived from Lagos, Nigeria and seized HK$150,000 worth of ivory tusks and ivory products.
Under the protection of endangered species of animals and plants ordinance, any person found guilty of importing an endangered species without a licence is liable to a maximum penalty of a HK$100,000 fine and one-year imprisonment.
