Major ivory seizure in Thailand

Thai Customs officers inspect seized ivory © Royal Thai Customs July 2010—Thai customs officers have seized 765 kg of African Elephant ivory at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport, according to media reports circulating from 16 July.

The seizure was said to be labeled as furniture and plastic folders and concealed in a shipment sent from Kenya to Bangkok.

Acting on a tip-off, officers opened the cargo and found 117 tusks and nine other ivory pieces according to reports.

In February this year Customs officials at the same airport seized 239 African Elephant tusks weighing an estimated two tonnes, reported to be the country’s biggest ever ivory seizure. That consignment was labeled as mobile phone parts and was similarly believed to have originated in Kenya, arriving via Dubai.

Both seizures have close parallels to one at the same airport last August, when 316 pieces of raw ivory weighing just over 800 kg were confiscated. That cargo was said to have arrived from East Africa via Qatar.

Officials in Thailand have been stepping up their efforts to crack down on the illicit ivory trade, with a “Buy Ivory, Buy Trouble” campaign recently launched aimed at travelers through the airport and a number of other initiatives. However, as the latest seizure demonstrates, illegal trade in ivory persists, with Thailand a popular destination of transit point.

In November 2009, a global analysis of ivory seizures carried out by CAWT partner TRAFFIC identified Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Thailand as the three countries most heavily implicated in the global illicit ivory trade.