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Ivory Seizure Reports from 2000 |
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- Egypt—Four raw or worked ivory pieces, weighing 10
kg, were seized from a U.S. national who attempted to export
them on January 3. Two ivory pieces were seized from a French
national who tried to export them on January 26. Source:
Egyptian Management Authority. Cited in Pachyderm, No.
28, January–June 2000.
- India—Sixteen tusks were seized in the Teen Hath
Naka area in January. Two people were arrested. Source:
Police. Cited in The Times of India, January 27,
2000.
- Kenya—Three tusks were seized in Garissa in early
January. Source: Kenya Wildlife Service. Cited in Associated
Press, January 19, 2000.
- Egypt—Seven raw or worked ivory pieces, weighing
30 kg, were seized from a Turkish national who tried to
export them on February 8. Thirty-five raw or worked ivory
pieces were seized from a Saudi Arabian national who tried to
export them on February 13. Source: Egyptian Management
Authority. Cited in Pachyderm, No. 28, January–June
2000.
- Egypt—Seventy-eight pieces of tusks, weighing
137.4 kg, ranging in size from 10–51 inches in length and
worth $215,000, were seized in Aswan on March 28. Source: Dr.
Samy El-Fellaly, CITES Management Authority for Egypt. Cited
in Associated Press, March 29, 2000, and personal
communication.
- Egypt—Two raw or worked ivory pieces were seized
from an Egyptian national who tried to export them on March
31, and two additional pieces, weighing 8 kg, were seized
from another Egyptian national who tried to export them on
April 1. Source: Egyptian CITES Management Authority. Cited
in Pachyderm, No. 28, January–June 2000.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo—In 2001 a United
Nations Panel of Experts reported that two metric tonnes of
elephant tusks were traced in the Bukavu area late in 2000.
By April, about three metric tonnes of tusks—which may or may
not include the two tonnes from Bukavu—were temporarily
seized by RCD-ML in Isiro. After strong pressure from Uganda,
the cargo was released and transferred to Kampala. Source:
United Nations. Cited in Report of the Panel of Experts on
the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms
of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2001.
- Japan—One hundred thirty-two sections of tusks,
weighing 500 kg, were seized in Tokyo. A Japanese national
and a British national of Hong Kong origin were arrested on
suspicion of smuggling the ivory from Singapore into Japan by
boat. Tokyo Customhouse officials said it was the
second-largest seizure of ivory ever made. The Japanese
national involved, a board member of one of the major ivory
industry organizations in Japan, was fined 300,000 yen (about
$2,700). Source: Customs officials and Japan Wildlife
Conservation Society (JWCS). Cited in Yomiuri Shimbun, April
27, 2000; and a personal communication with JWCS.
- Thailand—One hundred twelve pieces of raw elephant
ivory tusks, weighing 490 kg and valued at more than
$131,000, were found on April 28 by Thai customs officials at
Bangkok airport. The ivory was concealed beneath layers of
uncut gemstones in boxes freighted from Zambia. A Guinean
national was arrested when he tried to pick up the shipment,
but was later released by Thai authorities. Under Thai law,
smugglers can be released if they give the goods to the
authorities. Source: Rapee Asumpinpong, Deputy Director
General of Thai Customs. Cited in Nando Times, May 1,
2000, and Independent Online South Africa, May 1,
2000.
- Cameroon—Two tusks, each measuring 0.9 meters,
were confiscated from a burlap sack in the back of a
poacher's truck. The truck was stopped at an anti-poaching
roadblock in Yokadouma. Source: Mboh Dandjouma, Cameroonian
forest ranger. Cited in Chicago Tribune, May 6,
2000.
- Taiwan—Three hundred thirty-two raw tusks and cut
ivory, weighing 2,160 kg, were seized by the Keelung Customs
Bureau at Kaohsiung Harbour in south Taiwan on May 5 from a
ship that arrived from Douala, Cameroon. The shipment was
labelled as containing wood planks. Customs officials found
the ivory concealed under the planks. According to customs
officials, this was the largest haul of smuggled ivory since
1994. Source: Keelung Customs Bureau. Cited in Society for
Wildlife and Nature newsletter, Volume 8, No. 2, June
2000.
- China—Raw ivory of African origin, weighing 507 kg
and cut into pieces one meter in length, was seized on May 16
in Shenzhen, near Hong Kong. Shenzhen Customs officials found
it in a truck traveling between Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Two
people were arrested. Source: Shenzhen Customs officials.
Cited in Xinhua, May 23, 2000.
- Taiwan—Three elephant tusks, weighing 26 kg, were
seized by the Keelung Customs Bureau when inspecting a
shipment of coir palm seeds. Source: Keelung Customs Bureau.
Cited in Society for Wildlife and Nature newsletter, Volume
8, No. 2, June 2000.
- Vanuatu—Sixty-seven tusks were seized from a
French national by the Vanuatu Maritime Authority on June 24.
Source: Vanuatu Maritime Authority. Cited in a personal
communication, June 28, 2000.
- Chile—Eight pieces of ivory were seized in the
city of Los Angeles, Chile, in June. Source: Servicio Arcola
y Ganadero, Chile. Cited in a personal communication, May
2002.
- Egypt—One thousand four hundred forty-one pieces
of tusks, weighing 1,576 kg, were seized in Kom Ombo on
August 12. Two Egyptian nationals and one Sudanese national
were arrested for smuggling the ivory from Sudan. The
Ministry of Agriculture said it was the largest seizure ever
in Egypt. Source: Ministry of Agriculture. Cited in a
Ministry of Agriculture statement, August 15, 2000;
Sapa-Associated Press, August 15, 2000; and a personal
communication.
- Democratic Republic of the Congo—A United Nations
Panel of Experts reported that 800 kg of ivory tusks were
found in a vehicle of the Uganda People's Defense Force's
(UNDF) Col. Mugyenyi in Garamba National Park in August 2000.
The UNDF denied the allegation. Source: United Nations Panel
of Experts, Army Commander Maj. Gen. Jeje Odongo (UNDF).
Cited in The Monitor (Kampala), August 13, 2001.
- Zambia—Fourteen pieces of tusks were seized by
police from a vehicle traveling on the Mumbwa-Lusaka road
toward Lusaka. Five people were arrested. Source: Ryan
Chitoba, Central Province police chief. Cited in Times of
Zambia, August 23, 2000.
- Zambia—Sixty-three tusks were seized in an
anti-poaching campaign between January and July. Seven
hundred poachers were arrested and 239 firearms were seized.
Source: Henry Mwima, Zambian Wildlife Authority. Cited in
Times of Zambia, August 29, 2000.
- Egypt—Two pieces of ivory were confiscated on
September 15. Source: Egyptian Customs officials. Cited in a
personal communication.
- Zambia—Ninety-three tusks were seized in
anti-poaching operations between October and December.
Source: Tourism Minister, Michael Mabenga. Cited in The
Post (Lusaka), May 17, 2001.
- Canada—Four thousand four hundred pieces of
jewelry made from elephant ivory, worth about $75,000, were
seized from a container at the Halifax waterfront. The carved
ivory, including necklaces, bracelets, earrings, small
elephant carvings, and Disney characters, was imported from
Bremmerhaven, Germany, in August. Based on shipping
documents, customs authorities suspect the ivory originated
in Hong Kong and was destined for jewelry shops in Ontario.
Source: Customs and Environment Canada officials. Cited in
Halifax Herald, December 1, 2000 and Canada
News, December 1, 2000.
- United States—Seventy-two ivory carvings, valued
at more than $200,000, were seized from a shipment arriving
at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City
from the Ivory Coast in January. The carvings were disguised
in a sand and lacquer-like substance and painted to resemble
stone carvings. An Ivory Coast national was convicted of
smuggling and sentenced to one year and a day in prison.
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Customs Service.
Cited in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release,
August 9, 2000.
- South Africa—Eight elephant tusks were seized from
five Pretoria men, who were arrested. Source: South African
Police Service's Endangered Species Protection Unit. Cited in
The Pretoria News, September 12, 2000.
- China—Twenty-five pieces of African ivory,
weighing 123 kg, were seized from a traveler at Pudong
International Airport in October, after he landed there from
Benin via Mexico. The man was found guilty, convicted,
sentenced to six years in prison, and fined 50,000 yuan
(about $6,000). Source: Shanghai Customs officials and the
Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court. Cited in Xinhua,
August 30, 2001.
- Cameroon—Forty-two elephant tusks were seized by
officers of the Ministry of Environment and Forests in Lobeke
National Park, the biggest seizure ever reported in the area.
Six additional tusks were seized in the northern part of the
park. Source: Dr. Leonard Usongon, WWF Project Leader in
Lobeke. Cited in The Independent (Bangladesh),
November 13, 2000.
- Kenya—Sixteen elephant ivory tusks were
confiscated from six Kenya Wildlife Service
wardens-turned-poachers on December 11. The wardens were
arrested. Source: John Wanguku, Kenya Wildlife Service. Cited
in Panafrican News Agency, December 12, 2000.
- United States—Over the course of the year, the
following elephant ivory objects were seized upon import into
the U.S.: 96 pieces of ivory jewelry, 170 ivory carvings (not
including those mentioned elsewhere in this document), 12
ivory pieces, two teeth, one trophy, and 17 tusks. Source:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Law Enforcement Division,
analyzed by The Humane Society of the United States.
- Namibia—Over the course of the year, 43 tusks were
seized by the government; 16 of these weighed a total of
73.55 kg, while the weight of the remaining 27 tusks was not
recorded. Source: Namibian Police Protected Resources Unit.
Cited in a report of the unit.
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