Malaysia busts Vietnamese man for ivory smuggling

Malaysian authorities have arrested a Vietnamese man and seized a stash of elephant ivory worth almost $ 70,000, an official said Monday, highlighting the country’s role as a hub for the wildlife- smuggling trade.

The man was detained Friday at Kuala Lumpur’s main international airport after flying into the country from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, said airport customs chief Hamzah Sundang. Officials stopped the suspected smuggler – whose identity was not revealed – in the airport terminal as he was acting suspiciously.

When they checked his luggage, they found 10 packages containing elephant ivory weighing 36 kilograms that had been cut into small pieces, which activists said was likely going to be fashioned into jewelery. Authorities said the haul was worth about 300,000 ringgit ( almost $ 70,000).

The man had been due to travel on to Vietnam, where there is high demand for ivory for decorative purposes and in traditional medicine.

The latest seizure underlines Malaysia’s role as a transit point in the global wildlife smuggling trade. Earlier this month, Hong Kong customs officials discovered 7.2 tons of ivory tusks in a shipment from Malaysia.

The global trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989. Anyone found guilty of importing rare animals or their parts into Malaysia can be jailed for up to three years and fined.

Kanitha Krishnasamy, acting regional director for wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic, hailed the latest discovery by Malaysian authorities, which follows recent seizures of rhino horns and pangolins.