Eight suitcases full of ivory seized at Zurich airport via The Guardian Customs officials at Zurich
Eight suitcases full of ivory seized at Zurich airport via The Guardian Customs officials at Zurich airport have seized 262kg (578lb) of ivory that three Chinese men had dispatched from Tanzania, contraband that may have come from up to 50 elephants.The ivory was found during a security check on 6 July and packed in eight suitcases, Switzerland’s customs authority said on Tuesday. It put the estimated value on the illegal market at about 400,000 Swiss francs (£265,000).The elephant tusks had been sawn into 172 pieces to fit into the luggage, which was being transported from Tanzania’s capital, Dar es Salaam, to Beijing via Zurich. The head of the customs operation at the airport, Heinz Widmer, said officials estimated that the pieces came from 40 to 50 elephants.Demand from China’s rising middle class has been fuelling elephant poaching in Africa and illegal trade in ivory, which is turned into jewellery and other decorative items.Continue reading on The Guardian -- source link
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