Malaysia Seizes $18M Worth of Elephant Tusks and Pangolin Scales

Pangolin scales, African elephant tusks, bones, and animal skulls had been among the many many gadgets present in a container seized by Malaysian authorities. On July 18 the Royal Malaysian Customs Department stated that they discovered the contraband after checks on a ship coming from Africa on July 10. The total container of contraband was estimated to be value round $18 million (or 80 million ringgits).

Illegal exports like these are sometimes hidden in containers holding different gadgets. This time they had been tucked behind sawn timber. The seized gadgets embody: 55 kilos of rhino horns, 220 kilos of pangolin scales, 661 kilos of animal skulls, horns, and bones, and 13,227 kilos of elephant tusks. The rhino horns, pangolin scales, and ivory tusks are believed to have medicinal properties.

International commerce of pangolins, which some consultants say are essentially the most trafficked mammal, has been banned since 2017, however the unlawful commerce nonetheless continues. There are eight species of pangolin, and precise inhabitants numbers are unknown, however the inhabitants appears to be in decline in response to the World Wildlife Crime Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Estimates of the quantity of pangolins which have been illegally traded can also be troublesome to calculate due to issues like weight of pangolin scales various between the species to incomplete seizure data.

International ivory commerce has additionally been banned since 1989 beneath the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. A majority of tusk seizures have been made resulting from fixed investigations, risk-assessments, and tip-offs. This course of could also be why Malaysia additionally occurs to be one of many prime three nations on the earth that leads in ivory seizures.

Investigations will proceed, the Royal Malaysians Customs Department stated in an announcement to AP News, and can take a look at the importer and the transport agent, however didn’t present additional particulars. It is unclear if the contraband was additionally meant to be shipped to different elements of Asia.