Africa News
Thai customs seizes smuggled elephant and rhino horns
Feb 25, 2011, 10:35 GMT
Bangkok - Thai customs authorities seized 118 elephant tusks, 50 pieces of ivory and three rhino horns in cargo containers flown in from Nigeria, officials said Friday.
Customs officials discovered the huge illegal shipment, weighing more than 1,050 kilograms, at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport on Wednesday aboard a flight that originated in Lagos, Nigeria.
The 11 containers of ivory were marked as 'craft works' destined for a buyer in central Thailand.
'The seizure marks the sixth law enforcement action against ivory smugglers since an intelligence sharing meeting conducted between Thai and African wildlife task forces in late November,' said the FREELAND Foundation, a group fighting the trafficking of wildlife and humans.
The black market value of the ivory and rhino horns was estimated at 1.7 million dollars.
Read more about Nigeria
Read more about Thailand Crime
