Chinese customs officers seize more than 7 tonnes of ivory in record haul
- Elephant tusks found in wooden boxes during raid on disused factory in remote town in Anhui
- Twenty-six suspected members of international trafficking ring arrested in coordinated operation across six provinces
More than 7 tonnes of ivory were seized in a single raid by customs officials in the eastern province of Anhui in March, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday.
The record haul, totalling 2,748 elephant tusks, was the biggest ivory seizure handled by customs officials in recent years, the General Administration of Customs told a news conference on Monday.
Twenty-six suspected members of an international trafficking ring were arrested by the authorities on March 30 as part of a coordinated operation between customs officials and police across six provinces.
The ivory was seized from a disused factory in the remote town of Gaogou on the same day. The authorities discovered 62 wooden boxes filled to the brim with ivory tusks of various lengths, Huangpu Customs Agency official Qiu Wei was quoted as saying. Many of the crates were hidden inside two larger crates.
“There were also plastic bags for storing ivory, which means that they smuggled very large quantities of ivory multiple times, not just once,” Qiu said.
