Thread: 1,600 pounds of ivory seized in Thailand

More than 1,600 pounds of illicit ivory has been seized in Thailand after the elephant tusks were smuggled from Africa in pallets labelled as plywood furniture or notepads.


Published: 9:15PM BST 16 Jul 2010


A man walks through cases containing the elephant tusks Photo: AP


Customs authorities said Friday the 765 kilograms (1,683 pounds) of elephant tusks seized Tuesday was Thailand's third big ivory seizure this year.

The shipment was seized Tuesday after the flight from Kenya arrived at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. Customs officials said it was worth 38.34 million baht (£778,000).

Ivory shipped to Thailand typically goes to carvers who make Buddhist statues, bangles and jewellery for sale to tourists or sale in other countries. Thailand is also a transit point for other markets such as China.

Tanat Suvattanametakul, director of the cargo clearance customs bureau for the Customs Department, said officials acting on a tip had seized six pallets containing 117 elephant tusks, ranging in size up to a meter (yard) in length, and a single, rare rhinoceros horn.
Illegal hunting of elephants in central and eastern Africa has intensified in recent years, with much of the ivory exported to Asia.
The UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species banned all international ivory trade in 1989. Traders in Thailand have thrived in part because the 1989 ban did not address domestic trade. That loophole allows them to deceive authorities by claiming their African ivory came from Asia elephants, an effective tactic without DNA testing to tell the difference.
In the past five years, Thai Customs Department have confiscated 1,469 elephant tusks, weighing 6 tons and worth 278 million baht (£5.66) in total.
Thailand's last ivory seizure was in April, when a record haul of 1.4 tons was seized, hidden in crates labelled as computer printers.
1,600 pounds of ivory seized in Thailand - Telegraph

bet some went out the side door