SEPANG: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Customs foiled three attempts to smuggle in ivory and drugs worth more than RM10 million last month. KLIA Customs director Datuk Chik Omar Chik Lim said that in the first case, 1,001 kg of ivory worth RM10.01 million were confiscated. “Twenty-three packages containing 60 pieces of ivory, believed to be from 30 elephants, were found in a Turkish Airlines air cargo on July 21. “The plane which was from Kinshasa International Airport, Democratic Republic of Congo, had also made a transit at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in Turkey. “We believe those ivories were not meant to be sold here, but in China, Thailand and Vietnam where the demand is higher,” he told reporters.
He said the ivory, which was registered as Baked Clay and Wooden Sample, had two recipients’ addresses in Selangor and Johor but the houses were empty. Chik Omar said ivory is a prohibited item under the International Trade in Endangered Species Act 2008 and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, adding that, to import such items, a permit is required. “The case is being investigated under under section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967. “We are currently searching for the sender and origin of the ivory,”he said, adding that the haul was the biggest involving ivory. In the second case, he said a parcel containing 530 grams of methamphetamine was confiscated at the KLIA Mail and Courier Centre on July 22 at 11am.
“The parcel which arrived from Lagos, Nigeria was registered to a recipient in Kuala Lumpur. However, attempts to locate the recipient and the address failed. Chik Omar believed the drug was worth some RM42,400. Similarly in another case, 35.15kg of Khat leaves worth RM17,575 were seized by the department on July 14 at the KLIA Mail and Courier Centre. “The forbidden drugs were fitted into four packages from Addis Ababa, Euthopia,” he added.
