Shenzhen Customs shows items seized during coordinated anti-smuggling campaigns in Shenzhen, Wuxi and Shanghai, during a news conference in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 25, 2019. Photo: China News Service

Chinese customs on Monday cracked an international gang smuggling ivory and arrested 12 suspects, then provided information which helped Singaporean customs seize 8.8 tons of tusks. 

This was the largest confiscation of smuggled ivory in the history of Chinese customs investigations, according to a press release sent to the Global Times on Tuesday by the General Administration of Customs.    

Some 11.9 tons of pangolin scales were also seized in the operation. 

The investigation found the smugglers had been purchasing ivory and pangolin scales in Africa, transporting them via the sea to Singapore and finally smuggling them into China and neighboring countries. 

China has cooperated with Singaporean and Vietnamese customs to address international smuggling chains. 

Eleven tons of ivory and ivory products, 59.8 tons of pangolin scales and 90.5 kilograms of rhino horn have been seized, according to the press release.

Since this year, domestic operations have cracked 133 ivory smuggling cases and 38 gangs, seizing 9.05 tons of tusks. 

Global Times