16 suspects arrested in ivory trade crackdown
Print Edition
CHINESE authorities yesterday announced the arrests of 16 suspected members of a smuggling ring and the seizure of hundreds of kilograms of ivory along with rhino horns and bear paws.
Police in Beijing said as a result of a crackdown from May to August on the illegal trade and transport of wildlife products, officers retrieved 804 kilograms of ivory, 11 kilograms of rhino horns and 35 bear paws in a haul worth 24 million yuan (US$3.8 million).
In a statement, they said the ivory was smuggled illegally from Japan to China’s mainland via Hong Kong. The 16 suspects were arrested by forest police, which investigate crimes involving wildlife, in Beijing, Hebei, Guangdong and Shandong, among other places.
TRAFFIC, a British-based anti-wildlife trafficking group, praised the operation as a “clear demonstration of the Chinese government’s commitment to crack down on illegal wildlife trade.”
TRAFFIC said in a statement that it was possible all the wildlife products in the case originated in Japan, where people have been selling legally owned ivory and rhino horns from the 1980s and earlier as their popularity has plummeted. China is one of the world’s largest markets for illegal ivory.
In February, it imposed a one-year ban on ivory imports. In September, President Xi Jinping pledged to halt commercial ivory sales in China when he was visiting the United States.
Yesterday’s announcement came after authorities in Tanzania last week brought charges against Yang Fenglan, 66, a Chinese woman accused of smuggling 1.9 tons of ivory between January 1, 2000 and May 22, 2014.
Yang, dubbed the “Ivory Queen,” was accused of 14 years of ivory smuggling, and being involved in the sale of over 700 pieces of ivory for an amount equivalent to 2 million euros (US$2.2 million).
At the time of her arrest, Yang was working as an interpreter on the Tanzania-Zambia railway, a project symbolic of China-Africa friendship, and was also “the secretary-general of the Tanzania-China-Africa Business Council.” She also owns a Chinese restaurant in the country, sources said.
Despite international efforts, poaching continues unabated in Africa.
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