bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Alice Yan

Customs officials in southern China have cracked down on pangolin smuggling gangs, with more than 150 of the mammals seized, state broadcaster China Central Television reported on Friday.
A combined 34 suspected smugglers from nine rings were rounded up last week by customs authorities in Guangdong and Guangxi, who seized 155 pangolins in total, 103 of which were still alive.
The operation targeted illegal trafficking of pangolins from Vietnam to China, with the crime still rampant despite high-profile clampdowns by the government.
In China there is high demand for the animals, believed to be the world’s most trafficked mammals. Their scales are valued ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine, their meat is considered a luxury food item and their blood is used as a healing tonic.

Besides the 155 pangolins found, customs officials also seized over 20kg of pangolin scales.
In a village in Dongxing city in Guangxi, bordering Vietnam, officials raided a gang led by a man identified by the surname Tang and found 67 live pangolins hidden in a grocery room. Dongxing is a hotbed for pangolin smuggling activities.
In Guangdong, officials in Guangzhou caught smuggling gangs with an undisclosed number of frozen pangolins – all of them pups. The suspects had transported them across the border at points where China does not establish customs branches, officials said.
Shenzhen’s customs authority cracked a gang which had allegedly smuggled and sold more than 600 pangolins since August.
‘15,000 pangolins slaughtered’ for 7 tonnes of scales seized in China
Pangolins are a protected species under both mainland Chinese and international law. Gangs smuggling them are motivated by “huge profits”, Liu Kai, an anti-smuggling official in Dongxing, told CCTV.
“There is a demand. People in places such as Jiangmen and Shantou, in Guangdong, like to eat pangolins.
“Many people contacted poachers in Vietnam and asked gangs to bring pangolins into China. Then the pangolins were transported to restaurants in Guangdong.”
The animals often roll up when caught by poachers, who use methods such as scalding them with boiled water and hitting them with sticks to make them unfold.
Consider alternatives to pangolin, Chinese medicine professors urge
In the latest crackdown, the officials also intercepted other endangered species and their products, including elephant tusks, rhino horns, tiger teeth, bear paws, eagles and snakes.
Meanwhile, the customs authority in Chengdu, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, said it had seized 29kg of pangolin scales and 23kg of scale powders since January, through various channels including airport searches, tourist screening and mailed packages, according to CCTV.
News portal Thepaper.cn reported that in July 2017, customs officials in Nanning, also in Guangxi, apprehended four gangs who had smuggled 5,000 pangolins in total over the previous year.
“If the situation develops at the current momentum, pangolins will soon be extinct, rather than being endangered,” Liu said.


Reinflate the property sector? No, China wants an ambitious redesign

China faces rising costs across the board during 3rd week of Iran war

Why China’s AI automation push is a risky social experiment

‘A job that does not feel too painful’: How did gig work go mainstream in China?

China society

China cracks 9 pangolin smuggling gangs as demand for endangered mammal remains high

The seizure included 103 live and 52 dead pangolins. Photo: Miaopai

Customs officials in southern China have cracked down pangolin smuggling gangs, with 103 live pangolins and 52 bodies of the dead mammals seized, state media China CentralTelevision reported on Friday (March 29).ÊPhoto: miaopai

China has laws to stop pangolin trafficking – but what happens to the seized animals?

Pangolin seizures have been reported all over China but what is done with them after they are found is not always clear. Photo: AP

FILE - In this Friday, March 16, 2018 file photo, a pangolin from the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital is taken to a nearby field to forage for food near Johannesburg. Their scales _ made of keratin, the same material as in human finger nails _ are in high demand for Chinese traditional medicine, to allegedly cure several ailments, although there is no scientific backing for these beliefs. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)

Customs urged to step up prosecutions in illegal wildlife trade – with blood of 3,000 elephants, 65,000 pangolins and 51 rhinoceros on Hong Kong’s hands

Endangered animal parts seized by Hong Kong customs in Kwai Chung. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Portrait of Lisa Genasci, CEO of ADM Capital Foundation, at her office in Central. For the annual Women of our Time publication - a celebration of 25 of Hong Kong's most inspiring & influential women. 06SEP12

epa06997841 Seized bags of dried pangolin scales are displayed during a press presentation at Kwai Chung Customhouse in Hong Kong, China, 05 September 2018. Hong Kong Customs and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) mounted a 10-week joint anti-endangered species smuggling operation at the airport, seaport, land boundary and railway control points from June to August this year. Customs seized a total of 63 tonnes of suspected endangered tree logs, seven tonnes of pangolin scales and 25 kilograms of worked ivory, among other items. EPA-EFE/JEROME FAVRE

Seized Ivory scales seen at a Customs presser with AFCD (Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department) on endangered spices smuggling, to conclude a 2-month operations to combat smuggling activities related to endangered spices, at the Customs Headquarters in Kwai Chung. 05SEP18 SCMP/ K. Y. Cheng

News

China

People & Culture

Authorities in the country’s south round up 34 suspected smugglers from nine rings and seize over 150 pangolins
Operation targets illegal trafficking from Vietnam


Authorities in the country’s south round up 34 suspected smugglers from nine rings and seize over 150 pangolins, in operation targeting illegal trafficking from Vietnam.


Animal rights in China

China cracks 9 pangolin smuggling gangs as demand for endangered mammal remains high

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Authorities in the country’s south round up 34 suspected smugglers from nine rings and seize over 150 pangolins Operation targets illegal trafficking from Vietnam

Authorities in the country’s south round up 34 suspected smugglers from nine rings and seize over 150 pangolins

Operation targets illegal trafficking from Vietnam