CUSTOMS BUSTS MASSIVE WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING RING

Hong Kong customs busted a massive endangered species smuggling operation from Africa, seizing a record quantity of pangolin scales along with more than 1,000 ivory tusks, as authorities step up the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking.

The value of the seized goods — which equates to around 500 elephants and up to 13,000 pangolins — was over US$7.9 million, officials said on Friday. Originating in Nigeria, the shipment was bound for Vietnam, they added.

In a separate incident, customs officials in the northern Vietnamese port of Hai Phong discovered another 1.4 tonnes of pangolin scales in a shipping container sent from Nigeria.

Pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, are critically endangered.