Customs agents seize nearly a tonne ofivory worth about $1.5 million

Hong Kong customs agents have seized nearly a tonne of illegal ivory worth about 1.5 million US dollars, officials said on Thursday. It was the city's third major seizure of endangered species products in three months. Customs officials said they found a total of 189 elephant tusks weighing 769 kilogrammes (1,695 pounds) at the city's busy port in anti-smuggling operations carried out in late September. The ivory was wrapped in linen and nylon bags and hidden in large sacks of soybeans in containers on three separate ships, said Vincent Wong, head of Ports and Maritime Command. "All of these goods, they do not originate from Hong Kong, they originate from Africa or African countries. And they transhipped through another country, in this case it's Malaysia," said Wong at a news conference on Thursday. The ivory tusks were laid out on the floor in front of him. "We believe that these ivory tusks maybe transhipped to the destination where the buyers (are) that can afford these luxury goods." The shipments came from the Ivory Coast and transited through Malaysia. Officials said the likely final destination was mainland China. No arrests have been made and authorities are looking for the smugglers, Wong said. In August, Hong Kong officials seized illegal ivory, rhino horns and leopard skins worth 5.3 million US dollars in a shipment that came from Nigeria. In late July, they found two tonnes of tusks worth 2.25 million US dollars in a container from Togo. In January, a shipment of ivory worth 1.4 million US dollars from Kenya was confiscated. Wildlife activists say China's growing presence in Africa has led to a huge surge in poaching of elephants for their tusks, most of which are believed to be smuggled into China and Thailand to make ivory ornaments. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a6ae9413c38164c9178764789da8125e Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork