Smuggled African ivory seized at Suvarnabhumi Airport

Published : April 26, 2012 :: 14:04:27 [ 1,944 views ]

Smuggled African ivory seized at Suvarnabhumi Airport

BANGKOK, April 25 – The authorities in the Thai capital’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Wednesday intercepted and seized 22 contraband African elephant tusks, and 44 sawn pieces of ivory worth more than Bt3 million in a shipment from Nigeria.

Customs Department Director of Investigation and Suppression Rakob Srisupa-at told a news conference that the confiscated ivory weighed 58.54 kg and with a market value of more than Bt3 million (nearly US$100,000).

The tusks were found at Suvarnabhumi Airport in boxes falsely declared as gemstones and the shipment indicated the goods were shipped from Nigeria.

The authorities confiscated all the ivory as the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has banned all international ivory trade since 1989. The shipment also breaches Thailand’s Wild Animal Reservation and Protection Act of BE2535 (CE1992)

Meanwhile, customs officials also apprehended Chij Kumar Gurung, a 31-year-old Indian national, for smuggling illicit drugs into Thailand.

Mr Gurung was detained for secreting one kilogramme of hashish worth Bt100,000 in his stomach. He said he was hired to smuggle the substance from India’s Kolkata to deliver to an agent in Thailand.

He took Thai Airways to Thailand and arrived Suvarnabhumi airport at 5.50am today.

Hashish is a form of cannabis produced by collecting and compressing the most potent material from cannabis plants into varied forms, such as balls, cakes, or cookie-like sheets.

Repoort by : MCOT

Comments

Ivy Ree

said :

Who tried importing or receiving the ivory? Why weren't they arrested and their names listed?

Confiscating it's not good enough. Now a dozen more elephants will get poached (killed) to replace the shipment that got confiscated.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Good job on catching the Indian scum, guys.

Email : tusktusk@fallingshort.th Date : 2012-04-30 05:18:32