“Mechanical Problems” Led to 15 Arrested Airline Passengers in Hong Kong Ivory Seizure
At a press conference yesterday afternoon, Hong Kong Customs officials announced the seizure of 790 kilogrammes of ivory at Hong Kong International Airport. Officials arrested 15 suspected ivory smugglers in what they are calling the largest ivory seizure “amongst cases detected from air passengers”.
The ivory was discovered during a search spread among 32 pieces of baggage, in the forms of raw tusks and semi-finished products. According to Hong Kong Customs the baggage tags showed the passengers, all Vietnamese, began their travels in Angola before arriving in Ethiopia and Hong Kong on their way to South Korea and their destination Cambodia. The plane would not normally have been unloaded and searched however mechanical problems required the baggage hold to be unloaded.
“It is clear that this ivory is not [intended] for local consumption,” said Alfred Wong, an endangered species protection officer at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
The ivory was originally discovered around 1:00 a.m. Tuesday morning according to K. H. Ng, Head of Airport Command at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department. He explained that it took several hours to locate the passengers of the seized baggage, rounding them up beginning at roughly 10:00 a.m.
“This is a much needed crackdown by Hong Kong Customs to deter the current high levels of ivory smuggling,” said WildAid Executive Director Peter Knights who also identifies the legal trade as a means to launder freshly poached ivory. “Their efforts would be greatly facilitated by a total sales ban on ivory.”
If convicted the suspects face up to $5 million in fines and imprisonment of up to two years.
“Vietnam and Cambodia are emerging as ivory transit and consumption hotspots in their own right,” said WildAid consultant Alex Hofford. “On examination, some of the seized ivory seized was still coated in blood and had a strong odor of decay, suggesting that this is freshly poached ivory.”
