BANGKOK: More than three tonnes of elephant ivory have been found at a Thai port stashed in a container shipped from Kenya, customs said on Monday, the second huge haul of tusks from Africa in less than a week.
The discovery, which would be worth millions of dollars on the black market, was destined for Laos where the illegal ivory trade flourishes.
Some 511 pieces of ivory was found on 25 April in a container “marked as tea leaves transported from Mombasa, Kenya, and on to Laos”, Thai customs said in a statement.
Scores of whole tusks – some nearly two metres long – were among the pieces seized.
A record four tonnes of African elephant ivory was seized at Bangkok’s main port on 20 April in a container that arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo and was also destined for Laos.
Once in neighbouring Laos, authorities believe the ivory would likely be sold on to buyers from China, Vietnam or back into Thailand, countries where ivory ornaments are coveted despite fears the trade is pushing wild elephants to extinction.
Laos “is increasingly being used as a major transit point for such large volumes of illicit ivory and other wildlife products”, Chris Shepherd of conservation group Traffic told AFP.
“The increase in large-scale seizures is of great concern. Whether the ivory is coming from freshly killed elephants, or from stockpiles of ivory in Africa, needs to be investigated,” he added.
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