Thai Customs have seized more than 3.1 tonnes of elephant tusks and ivory fragments hidden inside hollowed-out timber shipped from Zambia to Laem Chabang Port. The seized products were valued at approximately 155 million baht.
The seizure was announced yesterday, October 26, during a press conference at the Laem Chabang Customs Office in Si Racha district, Chon Buri.
Customs Director General Phanthong Loykulnanta said officers intercepted two suspicious shipping containers following cooperation with domestic and international agencies.
The containers were declared as carrying 568 planks of processed mussivi timber, with a total volume of 48 cubic metres and a net weight of 56,000 kilogrammes.
Thirty-two of the planks had been hollowed out to create concealed compartments, which were sealed with white wax to hide elephant tusks, ivory fragments and other wildlife remains.
Inside were 469 whole tusks and cut sections weighing 3,042.67 kilogrammes, and a further 1,038 ivory fragments weighing 66.20 kilogrammes. The total comes to 3,108.87 kilogrammes.
Officers also discovered 335 strands of elephant tail hair weighing 0.18 kilogrammes and one animal carcass, bringing the estimated value of the entire seizure to 155 million baht.
The smuggling, officials said, violated the Customs Act 2017, Elephant Ivory Act 2015 and Wild Animal Conservation and Protection Act 2019, as well as relevant ministerial regulations and laws governing the import of wildlife and wildlife products.
The case also involves Thailand’s obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation is conducting DNA tests on the seized items, while the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and environmental crime police are investigating those behind the shipment.
Phanthong credited intelligence shared by Thai agencies, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) for helping uncover the smuggling attempt.
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