BBC News, 20
October 2012
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Stories
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| Ivory tusks are used in traditional medicine in Asia |
Hong Kong
customs officials say they have confiscated nearly four tonnes of smuggled
ivory - their largest seizure of products from endangered species.
The haul -
worth about $3.4m (£2.1m) - was hidden in two separate containers from Kenya
and Tanzania.
The seizure
followed a tip-off from mainland Chinese police, who have since arrested seven
people.
A recent
rise in the illegal trade in ivory has been fuelled by demand in Asia and the
Middle East.
Ivory tusks
are used in traditional medicine there and to make ornaments.
'Plastic
scrap'
"This
is the biggest haul of ivory tusk in Hong Kong customs enforcement history in a
single operation," Lam Tak-fai, head of Hong Kong's Ports and Maritime
Command, announced on Saturday.
The customs
officials said that the ivory tusks - as well as ivory ornaments - had been
discovered on Tuesday and Wednesday.
They said
that the containers from Kenya and Tanzania had been marked "plastic
scrap".
The latest
seizure tops the one in 2011 worth $2m.
Under Hong
Kong's law, those guilty of trading in endangered species products face up to
two years in jail and a huge fine.
The
international trade in ivory has been banned since 1989, to protect Africa's
dwindling elephant population.
Conservationist
have linked China's growing involvement in Africa with a rise in poaching
elephant tusks.
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