Philippines Seizes Shipment of Elephant Tusks
Date: 12-Oct-05
Country: THE PHILIPPINES
Nestor Gualberto, head of customs security, said the 850 kg (1,800 lb) shipment had arrived from Kenya last month in seven metal boxes labelled "rough stones".
Officials opened the unclaimed boxes on Tuesday.
"The shipment was not only misdeclared, it was also a clear violation of the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species," Gualberto told reporters.
He said the shipment of tusks, cut into one-foot (30 cm) and two-foot pieces, was the first seizure of illegal ivory at the airport.
Gualberto said the tusks were worth 30 million pesos ($538,000), based on the retail price of finished ivory products of $8,000 per foot