Record seizure of pangolin scales, ivory in Hong Kong

A record nine tons of endangered pangolin scales and 21 tons of ivory were seized after a joint operation by Hong Kong Customs and Chinese Mainland Customs.

Officials estimate that more than 13,000 pangolins and 500 elephants were brutally poached for such a large consignment. The shipment, on the way to Vietnam, was valued at nearly eight million U.S. dollars.

“This is the largest amount of pangolin scales ever seized in Hong Kong,” officials announced at a press conference on Friday.

Following a confidential tip, customs launched a massive operation screening containers at various ports to track the illegal consignment. The product dispatched from Nigeria was found hidden in a container at Hong Kong's Kwai Chung cargo port.

The container was labeled as frozen beef and deliberately kept at a low temperature to disguise the smell of pangolin scales.

Last July, Hong Kong customs seized more than seven tons of pangolin scales from Africa en route to the Chinese mainland. These frequent massive seizures expose a thriving trade of wildlife products, most of which has been banned by China. Last year, the country banned domestic trade in both wildlife products.

The ant-eating pangolins are the most illegally traded mammal in the world. Concerned over such large scale poaching, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared all eight pangolin species as threatened with extinction.

Massive use of the product for traditional medicines, mostly in South East Asian countries, is leading to their extinction, IUCN said.

Wildlife experts believe the smuggling routes for wildlife trade are undergoing significant transformation after China's wildlife trade ban. Vietnam is emerging as a lucrative destination.

Recently, TRAFFIC – a wildlife trade monitoring agency – found more than 10,000 ivory items being sold in the country' s 852 physical stores and 17 online platforms.

Alex Hofford, campaign manager at conservation group WildAid in Hong Kong, pointed out that there are two possible explanations for smugglers trying to sneak the consignment into Vietnam. The first is that this illegal consignment was never intended to go there.

Vietnam's Haiphong port, listed on shipping documents, would be a ploy to mislead the Hong Kong Customs. The couple arrested for the illegal consignment may have been planning to repackage these illegal wildlife products and send them to the Chinese mainland via speedboat.

“The second theory is that the illegal consignment could genuinely have been on its way to Vietnam, a country which shares a long and porous border with China,” Hofford told CGTN.

The couple arrested for importing the banned wildlife items owns a trading company in Hong Kong's Mong Kok district. “Investigation is ongoing, and all arrested persons have been released on bail pending further investigation,” Hong Kong Customs said in a statement.

(Cover Image: Hong Kong Customs and Chinese Mainland Customs seized a large consignment of pangolin scales and elephant tusks from Nigeria en route to Vietnam. /Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Customs.)

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HONG KONG MAKES RECORD SEIZURE OF PANGOLIN SCALES, IVORY

HONG KONG — Hong Kong customs officers have intercepted a record 8.3 tons of pangolin scales and hundreds of elephant tusks worth more than USD$8 million combined, underscoring the threat to endangered species from demand in Asia.

Acting on a tip from mainland Chinese authorities, local officials found the haul in mid-January in a refrigerated container labeled as frozen meat from Nigeria, officials said Friday.

They said the smugglers kept the temperature low to better disguise the smell of the illicit cargo. Police arrested two people in connection with the seizure.

It was the largest-ever seizure of pangolin scales in Hong Kong, representing the product of some 14,000 animals, and one of the largest of ivory in a decade, the officials said.

Scales of the anteater-like pangolin have for centuries been highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine. The scales, made of keratin akin to fingernails, are often roasted and ground to a powder before being added into a mix of ingredients to purportedly cure arthritis, promote breast feeding for mothers and boost male virility.

Scientists have designated all species of pangolins as being at risk of extinction. In the last two decades, the number of pangolins worldwide has dropped by about 90 percent.

Ivory tusks are a cherished decorative craft material in Asia, resulting in the devastation of wild elephant populations in Africa.

Under Hong Kong law, the importation and sales of endangered species and their products can be punished by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $1.3 million.

China and Hong Kong have sought to crack down on the illegal trade, although the semiautonomous port and financial center remains a major transit point for endangered species products and other contraband.

Last year, following the outlawing of ivory sales in mainland China, Hong Kong’s legislature enacted a complete ban on the local ivory trade to take effect by 2021, while raising penalties for offenders.

Meanwhile, a court in Thailand this week dismissed charges against a Thai man believed to be a kingpin in the illicit trade, according to Freeland, an organization that works with police to combat trafficking.

Police arrested Boonchai Bach just over a year ago at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of 11 kilograms (24.2 pounds) of rhino horns from Africa worth $700,000. A Chinese man and a Thai wildlife quarantine officer accused of assisting the smugglers were also arrested.

Citing a lack of evidence, the Samut Prakan Provincial Court found Boonchai Bach not guilty of multiple charges relating to wildlife trafficking, Freeland said.

Boonchai was suspected of running a large trafficking network on the Thai-Lao border that spread into Vietnam. According to Freeland, he and his family played a key role in a criminal syndicate that smuggled items including ivory, rhino horn, pangolins, tigers, lions and other rare and endangered species.

“Prosecution of a complex transnational organized crime case like this requires a multi-agency effort to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together,” said Steven Galster, founder of Freeland. “Instead, we saw a kingpin walk free after a narrowly focused case fell apart when the prosecution’s only major witness flipped in front of his boss.”

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Customs officers deliver HK$62 million blow to smugglers after seizing container on its way to mainland China full of ivory and pangolin scales sent from Nigeria

More than HK$62 million worth of elephant tusks and pangolin scales have been confiscated by Hong Kong customs from a shipping container that arrived from Africa this month.

The illegal wildlife products were believed to be destined for mainland China, for use in traditional medicine and high-end sculptures.

The haul included more than 8.2 tonnes of scales believed to have come from thousands of endangered pangolins, with an estimated street value of HK$42 million. It was the biggest seizure of pangolin scales, by value and weight, ever in the city, the Customs and Excise Department said.

The operation also came amid increasing seizures of wildlife products last year with the quantities seized increasing more than threefold to 270,000kg.

The scales were found along with more than 1,000 tusks, which weighed about two tonnes. Worth more than HK$20 million, the tusks were the largest haul of ivory since a record HK$70 million ivory seizure in 2017.

One source said ivory could be bought for HK$2,300 per kilogram in Africa, but it cost as much as HK$70,000 per kilogram on mainland China.

He said a single ivory tusk, that normally weighs more than 20kg, could be sold for more than HK$1.4 million.

Pangolin scales are worth about HK$230 per kilogram in Africa but can be sold for HK$5,800 per kilogram on mainland China.

According to the department, customs officers uncovered the shipment from Nigeria after receiving intelligence from mainland authorities.

They inspected a refrigerated container, said to be carrying frozen meat from Nigeria, in mid-January, and found the tusks and scales inside.

Two Hongkongers – a man and a woman – were arrested in connection with the case. The man runs a local trading company and the woman is his employee.

The two suspects were picked up at their Mong Kok office about 10 days ago. They have been released on bail pending further investigation.

The Post has learned the contraband was not for local consumption and was probably bound for mainland China.

Customs officers seize HK$11 million worth of fake luxury goods

Customs officers confiscated more than 17 tonnes of the scales in 2018, twice the amount local authorities seized in 2017. The previous record seizure of 7.3 tonnes of scales came in July 2016. That shipment also came from Nigeria.

Africa is one of the main sources of pangolin shipments. Among the seizures in 2018, customs officers seized three separate shipments from Nigeria, involving a total of 11.7 tonnes of pangolin scales.

The source said it was possible this month’s haul was intended to supplement the underground market after the seizures in 2018.

“The price of the scales [seized in the latest operation] is much higher because the scales are bigger in size,” he said. The scales cost more than HK$5,100 per kilogram, but the product in low grade can be bought for as little as HK$580 per kilogram.

Pangolins are believed to have medicinal properties. Products derived from the animal are thought to reduce swelling and increase lactation and blood circulation.

In 2018, local authorities seized hundreds of kilograms of ivory. The city’s record ivory seizure was made in July 2017 when 7.2 tonnes of ivory tusks worth HK$72 million were found hidden in a container which had arrived from Malaysia.

Overall, 270,000kg of endangered species were found trafficked to the city in 745 cases last year with the number of cases up by 72 per cent. Customs officers arrested 528 people.

Despite the large seizures of wildlife products in recent years, a government source said there was no evidence Hong Kong was a trafficking hub.

“The seizures have demonstrated our capability and determination to fight against such smuggling activities,” he said. “Our enforcement action has deterred smuggling syndicates from attempting to use the city as their trafficking transit centre.”

He said Hong Kong was not the final destination for such goods and it was just one of the stops along the smuggling routes.

Waiter, there’s catfish in my grouper: customs struggles to fight false advertising

“The main operation of the smuggling syndicates is not in Hong Kong, and in most of the cases Hong Kong is only involved in arranging the logistics for the cargo,” the source said.

He added that seizures struck a blow to these syndicates, as local authorities confiscated the goods and they suffered heavy financial losses.

On Monday, the Post reported that no one had been prosecuted in connection with the city’s largest ivory seizure, in July 2017. This sparked concerns from experts, who called on local authorities to put more money into investigations.

Customs Commissioner Hermes Tang Yi-hoi said on Thursday customs had worked hard with other relevant departments to protect endangered species and disagreed that the prosecution rate was low.

“With regard to prosecutions, we need to produce sufficient evidence to substantiate charges for offenders. This is rule of law that has guided us throughout the years,” Tang said.

Additional reporting by Christy Leung

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Cameroon Investigates Illegal Ivory, Pangolin Scales Bound for China

DOUALA, CAMEROON —

Law enforcement officials in Cameroon say investigations continue following a large discovery of illegal wildlife products hidden in shipping containers bound for China.

At least 1,000 kilograms of pangolin scales and several hundred elephant tusks were found April 6, in containers of cocoa that were to be transported to China from the Douala international airport.

Officials have not yet determined the country of origin for the contraband. Poaching of elephants and pangolins remains a problem in Cameroon; however, the country has also served as a regional hub for smugglers.

Didier Ngono, an official from the wildlife department, told VOA that three Chinese nationals have been arrested and will help police with their investigation.

Ngono says that under the law, the penalties for smuggling include fines ranging from $6,000 to $20,000 and prison sentences of between one and three years.

Cameroon has intercepted and destroyed at least two other large shipments of pangolin scales bound for Asian countries in the past two years.

Eric Kaba Tah, an official with The Last Great Ape, a nongovernmental organization that helps Cameroon enforce wildlife laws, says enforcement mechanisms remain weak.

"In 2016, two Chinese traffickers were arrested with five tons of pangolin scales that were about to be illegally exported from the country to China," Tah said. "They were given three months' imprisonment from … the one-year minimum imprisonment they were supposed to get, and this is why we are very dissatisfied. They should be given punishment that is commensurate to their crimes."

Both pangolins and elephants are considered critically endangered. International trade in pangolin and ivory is banned, yet consumer demand remains high in Asian countries, fueling the illegal market. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy and the scales are used in traditional medicine.

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