‘Chinese town a major ivory smuggling hub’

HONG KONG: An environmental watchdog group says its investigation has found that a littleknown town in southern China is a major hub for ivory smuggling by organised criminal gangs.

The Washington, DCbased Environmental Investigation Agency said in a report yesterday that it uncovered a network of ivory trafficking syndicates operating out of Shuidong in Guangdong province, near Hong Kong.

The group says its investigators worked undercover posing as buyers to win the trust of a smuggling group and tracked one of its shipments from Mozambique.

Syndicate members told the EIA theirs was just one of 1020 ivory trafficking groups operating out of Shuidong, the group said.

They claimed that 80% of all poached ivory smuggled from Africa to China passes through the town – a startling figure that’s impossible to corroborate.

China has taken steps to curb the demand for ivory that wildlife groups say fuels the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of elephants in Africa every year. It started shut ting down ivory carving factories in March and is planning to ban all domestic retail sales by the end of the year. Hong Kong, a major transshipment hub for illicit wildlife trading, is preparing to ban local ivory sales by 2021.

“What EIA discovered in Shuidong, however, clearly shows transnational criminal networks are operating with neartotal impunity,” said Mary Rice, the group’s executive director. “It is vital that enforcement agencies in Africa and China put these criminals out of business immediately.”

The EIA investigators encountered the Shuidong syndicate members last year in Mozambique, which has become more popular with Chinese smugglers after neighboring Tanzania cracked down.

Shuidong emerged as an ivory trading hub thanks to its role as a centre for the sea cucumber trade.

As China grew wealthier over the past few decades, Shuidong traders fanned out to Africa to feed growing demand for the delicacy. They were well placed to move into the illegal ivory trade when demand in China soared starting in the 1990s. — AP