TAIPEI: Customs officials at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport seized four brown bear hides allegedly found in the luggage of a Taiwanese passenger returning from Japan here the other day.
Taipei customs officials were doing random luggage checks when they saw something unusual when luggage belonging to a man surnamed Hsu was X-rayed.
Customs officers found four complete bear hides, each with claws and its skinned head, totaling 17.93kg and each from 1.7m to 2m in length.
Hsu was on an inbound flight from Sapporo, Japan.
Officials said the hides were those of Japanese brown bears, which live in mountain areas of Hokkaido.
According to officials, it was the first time Japanese brown bear hides seized by Taipei customs officials, which has jurisdiction over import and export cargo clearance at Taoyuan airport and the Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport).
Hsu allegedly said that he was commissioned to bring back the purchased bear hides from Japan, and was to be paid NT$10,000 (US$320) per hide.
Hsu allegedly purchased each hide for ￥1 million, or about NT$262,295.
Customs officials said Japanese brown bear hides are rare and few smugglers have been caught. Each has the asking price of about NT$1 million on the black market in Taiwan.
The Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office is investigating the case and Hsu is likely to be detained on smuggling charges and other violations of the Wildlife Conservation Act.
According to provisions in the Act, offenders can face imprisonment of up five years and a fine of up to NT$1.5 million.
Officials said that last month they seized 3kg of undeclared elephant ivory sculptures from a Taiwanese passenger returning from Japan.
