Traveler caught with 200 pounds of elephant ivory in four suitcases

By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com
September 27, 2010 Customs officials found 16 pieces of cut ivory on searching a 62-year-old Malaysian man at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand in August. Recently released information shows that the traveler was carrying nearly 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of ivory in four suitcases after arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “The Thai Royal Customs is committed to taking strong measures to ensure that proper legal import and export procedures under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora is adhered to at every check-point across the country especially Suvarnabhumi Airport,” Mr. Ekalarp Rattanarut, Director of Suvarnabhumi Airport Passenger Control Customs Bureau said in a statement. Customs officials at Suvarnabhumi International Airport have made a startling number of seizures of ivory this year, totaling almost 2 tonnes of illegal ivory. “The customs officers responsible for this ivory seizure in Thailand are to be commended, although the fact this trade continues illustrates that Thailand’s domestic ivory market remains a serious issue,” Chris R. Shepherd, Deputy Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia said in a press release. “Unless Thailand starts making ivory seizures in the marketplace, we fear its ivory trade will continue.” Thailand is among the top three countries—also including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo—in the illegal ivory trade, according to Elephant Trade Information Systems (ETIS) a database managed by TRAFFIC. …