Hong Kong seizes £7m of ivory in shipment

Hong Kong customs officials say they have seized more than $9 million (£7m) of ivory in the city’s biggest haul in 30 years.

Customs officers discovered 15,900lb of elephant tusks on Tuesday in a shipment from Malaysia that had been labelled as frozen fish, the former UK colony’s customs and excise department said.

Officials displayed samples of the tusks piled on the floor at their offices close to some of Hong Kong’s giant container ports. The department said three people at a trading company in Hong Kong had been arrested in connection with the shipment.

Hong Kong, a major shipment hub for illicit wildlife products, is preparing to ban local ivory sales by 2021.

Under customs regulations, anyone found importing or exporting endangered species without a licence or trying to smuggle such items into or out of the territory faces possible fines and imprisonment.