Wed, Jul 05, 2006 page1

• Ivory smuggling plot uncovered

  ILLEGAL TRADE Customs officials discovered 18 wooden boxes filled with about 350 elephant tusks, which were intended to be transferred to Manila

  • By Rich Chang / STAFF REPORTER
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  Kaohsiung Harbor officials yesterday discovered a large amount of ivory in cargo that had originated in Tanzania.

  The Kaohsiung Customs Office found an estimated 350 tusks in two containers, weighing around 2,500kg and valued at more than NT$100 million (US$3,100,775).

  "The two containers entered Kaohsiung Harbor on June 11 and June 15, respectively, from Tanzania. They were to be transported to Manila on a smaller ship later this month," Ko Shih-hsien (郭世賢), an official with the Kao-hsiung Customs Office, said at a press conference.

  

  A Kaohsiung customs officer displays a giant ivory tusk yesterday after intercepting a huge shipment of ivory smuggled from Tanzania.

  PHOTO: CNA

  The ivory was discovered in 18 wooden boxes when customs officials were checking suspicious cargo yesterday morning, he said.

  The two containers were listed as containing sisal fiber, he added.

  Sisal fiber is used to make such items as ropes or rugs. Tanzania is one of the world's main producers of sisal fiber.

  Taiwan banned ivory imports in 1990, with the exception of items that have obtained an export permit from ivory-producing countries, to prove they do not violate the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

  As the cargo would have headed for the Philippines if it had not been discovered, the official said the bureau had launched an investigation regarding the Philippine importer.

  He added that the bureau would contact and cooperate with international conservation organizations to probe the matter.

  Some expressed fears that a large herd of as many as 400 elephants had been slaughtered by an ivory smuggling ring in order to harvest the tusks.

  The tusks will be handed over to the Council of Agriculture to decide whether to destroy them or to reserve them for academic research.

  Officials displayed the tusks at the harbor yesterday.

  The official said the tusks were mostly from full-grown elephants, with a longest one being 180cm in length.

  Wu Yu-chi (吳郁琪), a program official from the Trade Record Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce's (TRAFFIC) Taiwan branch, TRAFFIC East Asia-Taipei, yesterday told a press conference that she could not tell whether the tusks had come from Asian elephants or African elephants, but that the place of export should be an indicator.

  Wu added that brown-colored ivory with bloodstains would indicate the tusks were from recently killed elephants.

  Ivory trading is outlawed, but in some countries ivory is used to make high-priced jewelry and seals, Wu said.

  The last time the country seized a large amount of smuggled ivory was in May 2000, when Kaohsiung Harbor discovered 332 tusks, weighing 2160kg.

  For your information

  Endangered species

  * About 350 tusks were discovered in two separate cargo containers that originated in Tanzania. * The shipments had been labeled as containing sisal fiber, often used for making ropes. * The cargo's final destination was to have been Manila. * Taiwan banned ivory imports in 1990.
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