Hong Kong customs officers have seized 113 ivory tusks worth about HK$3 million on the Chinese ivory market, officials said on Wednesday.
The smuggled ivory was seized at the airport on Tuesday in a container marked “spare parts” from Burundi which was bound for Singapore, said an official statement.
The total seizure, weighing 300kg, was worth an estimated HK$3 million.
“Upon X-ray image analysis, the consignment was detected to contain ivory tusks instead of spare parts,” the statement said.
Customs officers made the city’s largest ivory seizure in October when they intercepted almost four tonnes worth about US$3.4 million, hidden in shipments from Kenya and Tanzania.
In January, customs officers intercepted another container from Kenya carrying 779 pieces of ivory tusk weighing 1.3 tonnes.