Thailand Makes Record Bust of Illegal Ivory

[CrazyExpat]

Thailand has intercepted a record two tons of elephant tusks that authorities say were smuggled into the country from Africa. Thailand is seeking to be removed from a blacklist of countries involved in the illegal ivory trade.

Thai customs authorities say they seized 239 elephant tusks at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport, worth an estimated $3.6 million, late Wednesday.

The officials say the haul weighed more than two tons and was the largest bust in Thailand's recent history.

The seizure followed a tip that illegal ivory from South Africa arrived on a plane from Dubai.

The ivory was labeled as telecommunication parts destined for Laos. But Tanat Suvattanametakul, director of the airport's cargo clearance customs bureau, says the cargo declaration was false. "They need to import to Thailand but they just declare the transit to Laos," said Tanat.

Thailand is a major transit point for trafficking wildlife products, much of which goes to markets in China.

Thailand is hoping to be removed from a blacklist of countries involved in the illegal trade at a March conference of parties to CITES, the convention on international trade in endangered species.

Sulma Warne is a program officer with Traffic, an organization that monitors the illegal trade in wildlife. He says the record bust should help Thailand's image, but says there are additional steps the country needs to take to crack down on smugglers.

"The fines and the punishments that are handed out tend not to be significant enough for people not to engage or re-engage in such criminal activities. So, we would certainly like to see the enforcement or the punishments ramped up," said Sulma.

Customs officials say a Thai national tried to pick up the shipment of illegal ivory and was detained. But it is not clear if any charges were made. The United Nations banned the international trade in ivory in 1989, but smuggling continues and ivory traders often disguise illegal sources as domestic stockpiles.

Thailand Makes Record Bust of Illegal Ivory | Africa | English

[Wino]

Thailand is hoping to be removed from a blacklist of countries involved in the illegal trade at a March conference of parties to CITES, the convention on international trade in endangered species.

Thailand is trying to be a good citizen of the world and are trying to clean up their act. I wonder what incentives the West is offering?

[Beer Chang]

I'm all for protecting elephants, I really am, cool creatures.

But African children are more important than their elephants.

[lvdkeyes]

I don't think anyone would argue with your view, but why do we have to choose one or the other?

[Beer Chang]

One could argue that the poverty of Africa contributes to the illegal ivory trade. But I doubt that the money that teh profiteers are making trickles down the food chain.

[Wino]

Corruption is a big problem.

By TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press Writer MANILA, Philippines – A Philippine wildlife officer is suspected of stealing more than 1,500 pounds (700 kilograms) of smuggled elephant tusks seized last year, an embarrassing setback for the country's anti-poaching efforts, an official said Wednesday.The ivory worth $65,000 was part of a 8,800-pound (4,000-kilogram) shipment of tusks that was impounded at Manila airport in July and turned over for disposal to the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, said Theresa Mundita Lim, the agency's director. Trade in ivory is banned under U.N. rules.

She said the theft of nearly a fifth of the stored tusks was discovered while inventory was being taken on a warehouse Friday. Seals on some of the boxes were broken and some of the original tusks were replaced by replicas made of PVC pipes covered with plaster, she said.

Wildlife authorities filed administrative charges against a park supervisor, who may also face a criminal case depending on the probe by the National Bureau of Investigation, Lim said. The suspect, who was not identified, has not returned to work since Friday, she said.

"This is really embarrassing because we should be among the proactive countries protecting internationally important species," Lim told The Associated Press.

"It is already a shame that the tusks are smuggled here and the Philippines is an end-market, where the tusks are processed and finished products like carvings are exported from here."

Lim said Interpol has informed her office that a team of inspectors from Tanzania is due to arrive next week to carry out DNA tests on the tusks to establish if they originated from the East African nation.

She said she was not even sure if all the tusks seized at the airport were handed over to her bureau. Customs officials last year said the shipment was worth $2 million, but Lim said the street value of what was turned over to her office was about $450,000.

"I don't know where the other portion of the shipment went," she said, adding that the investigation has been ongoing.

The whereabouts of tusks confiscated in previous smuggling attempts in 2005 and 2008 also are unclear, she said.

Corruption and smuggling, particularly in customs, has long been a concern. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo created an anti-smuggling group in 2007 to curb unlawful imports and other violations facilitated by corrupt customs officials.

Trade in ivory was banned under the 1989 U.N. Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species that has helped in the recovery of the elephant population in several African countries.

Officer suspected of stealing ivory in Philippines - Yahoo! News