Hand of organised crime in ivory trade
Large seizures of elephant tusks indicate the involvement of criminals, says report by trade monitor
Hong Kong is on the frontline in the fight against illegal ivory trafficking, and has a growing role as a transit point of the illicit trade, according to reports by the UN and a wildlife agency.
Large-scale seizures in the city in recent years point to the involvement of organised crime, one of the reports says.
Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Hong Kong accounted for, or was implicated in, 60 per cent, or 21 out of 34 large-scale seizures since 2009 totalling 41.1 tonnes, according to a report on ivory trade submitted to CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
In 2011, seizures in Hong Kong represented about 8 per cent of the world's reported hauls by weight, according to figures from the Customs and Excise Department and from the report by Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring network.
"These four countries and territories currently constitute the frontline defence for preventing large-scale movements of ivory into the two key end-use markets," the report said.
"Typically, these transit points are used to change the identity of containers originating in Africa so that their onward shipment to China or Thailand does not attract … attention."