Bangkok, Jan 6 (DPA) Thai customs officials confiscated 73 African elephant tusks in a shipment from Mozambique destined for Laos, officials said Thursday.
The tusks were discovered Wednesday in a Thai Airways International warehouse at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in two crates destined for Vientiane, Laos’ capital, Customs Department Director General Prasong Poontaneh said.
‘Trade in Africa elephant tusks is forbidden under CITES, so no matter what country they are found in, it’s illegal to ship them,’ Prasong said, referring to an international agreement, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
He added that although the tusks were destined for Laos, he suspected the real buyer was a Thai customer who intended the shipment to go missing in Bangkok.
Bangkok is a major hub for illegal trafficking in ivory. The illicit trade is facilitated by Thai law, which does not list domesticated Asian elephants as endangered species and allows trade in their tusks.
Thai law categorizes domesticated elephants as livestock because the animal was traditionally used as a beast of burden in the forestry industry.
