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Customs officers yesterday (October 13) seized about 1,932 kilograms of ivory, worth about $2.7 million, from two 20-foot containers.

At about 3.30pm, Customs officers from the Marine Investigation Unit of the Ports and Maritime Command intercepted two containers which were being driven away from the Kwai Chung Container Terminal by a tractor.

On inspection, they found 47 bags of ivory, camouflaged by tree trunks, inside the containers.

A 54-year-old driver and a 59-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman employed by a trading company were arrested. The driver was released while the man and woman were freed on bail pending further investigations.

Initial Customs enquiries showed that the containers, declared to be containing 300 wood carvings, were imported from Indonesia into Hong Kong on October 12.

Customs believed that the unmanifested ivory was from Tanzania in Africa.

Under the Import and Export Ordinance, the maximum penalty for importing unmanifested cargo is a fine of $2 million and seven years' imprisonment. According to the Animals and Plants (Protection of Endangered Species) Ordinance, the maximum penalty is a fine of $5 million and two years' imprisonment.

Ends/Tuesday, October 14, 2003

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