Maputo — The Thai Customs authorities at Bangkok airport have seized 73 elephant tusks, supposedly smuggled out of Mozambique, that were en route to Laos.
The ivory, according to Thai General Director of Customs, Prasong Poontaneh, was discovered on Wednesday in a warehouse belonging to Thai Airways International, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, in two boxes labeled as "personal property", that were to be taken on to the Laotian capital Vientiane.
In Africa, ivory trade is forbidden under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), regardless of the country of origin and the mode of transport, said Prasong.
He added that although the ivory was heading to Laos, it is suspected that the real buyer is a customer who complained about the disappearance of the merchandise in Bangkok.
Government officials in Maputo knew nothing about the Thai seizure. Matters relating to CITES were until recently in the hands of the Ministry of Agriculture, but in late 2010 were transferred to the Environment Ministry (MICOA).
Emilia Polana, a focal point at MICOA, told AIM that she did not know about the smuggling of the 73 tusks from Mozambique, and referred the matter to the Mozambican Customs Service.
The Director of the Communication and Image Office in Customs, Daúde Daia, was also unaware of the situation, but promised investigations to determine the veracity of the claim that Mozambican ivory had been sent illegally to Bangkok.
Bangkok is a centre for smuggled ivory. The illicit trade is facilitated by the Thai law that does not include domesticated Asian elephants in the list of endangered species and allows for trade in ivory.
CITES is an international agreement between governments aimed at ensuring that trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201101070260.html