SINGAPORE: The customs authorities have intercepted a massive half-ton illegal shipment of elephant tusks going through Singapore, it said in a statement.
The 505 kg of raw tusks were accompanied by 324 kg of pangolin scales, in an air shipment worth roughly S$1.3 million (US$920,217). The shipment was labelled as synthetic wigs, and were en route from Lagos, Nigeria, headed for Vientiane, Laos.
This shipment is the fifth largest batch of smuggled ivory seized since 2002, said authorities.
The freight forwarding company used for the shipment is currently assisting the authorities with the investigations.
Elephants and pangolins — also known as scaly anteaters — are endangered species, and international trade in them requires a permit from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a global treaty to which Singapore is a signatory. CITES is also known as the Washington Convention, and was created to protect endangered plants and animals.
Under the treaty, smuggling illegal wildlife carries a maximum penalty of a S$50,000 (US$35,372) per specimen fine, up to a maximum of S$500,000 (US$353,728), together with imprisonment of up to two years.
In October, two Russian men were each sentenced to 15 months in prison in Singapore for trying to smuggle 206 live endangered turtles between Bangladesh and Indonesia. In 2014, two men were jailed for 16 months each for trying to smuggle S$60,000 (US$43,369) of elephant ivory through Singapore.
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