Wildlife smugglers still at large after Hong Kong’s biggest ivory seizure in 30 years results in zero prosecutions
- Customs seized seven tonnes of tusks worth about HK$70 million in a shipment of frozen fish from Malaysia in 2017
- Department of Justice said there was insufficient evidence to support a reasonable prospect of conviction
Investigations into Hong Kong’s largest ivory seizure in 30 years have failed to produce a single prosecution, meaning the syndicate behind the smuggling operation is still at large, the customs department has confirmed.
That failure, along with a long-standing low prosecution rate for wildlife smuggling, has sparked concerns from experts, who called on Hong Kong authorities to put more money into investigations and make the offence a more serious crime with stiffer penalties.
Confirmation that the case had hit a dead end came 1½ years after the Customs and Excise Department announced in July 2017 that it had seized more than seven tonnes of tusks worth about HK$70 million in a shipment of frozen fish from Malaysia.
The ivory was found in a 40-foot refrigerated container, which was declared to contain 7,000kg of fish, at Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound in Kowloon. It was the biggest haul of ivory since records began in 1989, when an international trade ban was introduced.
Two days after the seizure, customs said a follow-up investigation had led to the arrest of three people at a local trading company, which was believed to be part of a larger syndicate using Hong Kong as a transit point.
