Hong Kong seizes Sh2.24bn ivory tusks from Tanzania

Customs officers stand behind more than 500 pieces of ivory tusks on display after being seized by the Customs and Excise Department in Hong Kong November 16, 2012. Customs officers have seized more than HK$10 million ($1.25 million) worth of elephant tusks - the second such major haul in a month, with 1,300 kg of ivory found hidden in a shipping container that arrived from Tanzania, government radio reported on Friday. (Photo: REUTERS)

Hong Kong authority on Friday seized 500 pieces of ivory tusks from Tanzania worth $1.4 million (Sh2.24 billion) —the second such major haul in a month, The Guardian has learnt.

According to Reuters News Agency, the 500 pieces weighing 1,300 kilogrammes were found hidden in a shipping container that arrived in Hong Kong from Tanzania on Friday.

To put things into perspective, this means that a total of 250 elephants were illegally killed in Tanzania in order to export 500 pieces of tusks—casting doubt on the authority’s capacity to deter poaching.

But, the seizure by the Hong Kong’s Customs and Excise Department raises question about the situation at the Dar es Salaam port where the tusks were shipped from early, this month.

It’s understood that at the Dar es Salaam port, there’s all key government agencies responsible for inspecting, monitoring and verifying every item exported outside the country. The agencies include Tanzania Revenue Authority, Police, and Intelligence among others.

Customs officials discovered the 1,330 kilograms (about 2,900 pounds) of illegal ivory Thursday in a container from Tanzania that was marked as carrying sunflower seeds, authorities said. The 569 tusks, worth 10.56 million Hong Kong dollars (about $1.4 million U.S.), were in the back of the container, buried under hundreds of bags of the seeds.

The Hong Kong government said customs officials are investigating the case and are still trying to find "the smuggling syndicate members."

The container had been picked out for inspection based on "risk assessment," authorities said. The seizure follows the roughly $3.4 million worth in ivory found in two shipping containers last month, one of the largest amounts ever seized in Hong Kong.

Those containers arrived from Tanzania and Kenya, according to Hong Kong customs officials. The agency seized 1,209 pieces of ivory tusks and 3 pounds of ivory ornaments from the two containers, discovered over a period of two days. In that case, Hong Kong customs officials were on alert after a tip-off from officials in Guangdong, China.

Seven people, including one Hong Kong resident, were arrested by Chinese officials in connection with the case, authorities said at the time.

Hong Kong is viewed as a transit point for the illegal ivory trade, feeding into increasing demands in China, according to a Time article published last month. Elephants are being killed in Africa at an alarming rate as international demand soars for ivory. Much of the demand comes from increasingly affluent Asian countries, particularly China and Thailand.

Before this year, the most recent major bust in Hong Kong occurred in 2011, when officials seized a shipment of ivory and rhinoceros horns valued at $2.2 million Hong Kong dollars.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN