Hong Kong court jails mainland Chinese rhino horn smuggler for 8 months after law toughened on illicit wildlife trade
- Customs officers at airport caught carpenter Wei Bin, 21, with goods in his luggage worth an estimated U$105,740 to US$217,700
A mainland Chinese carpenter was jailed for eight months on Wednesday for smuggling more than 3.1kg of rhino horn into Hong Kong, the lengthiest prison term since the city introduced tougher penalties to combat wildlife trafficking earlier this year.
Deputy District Judge Li Chi-ho stressed that a harsher punishment was needed to reflect the change in the law when he jailed Wei Bin, 21, whose smuggled goods had an estimated market value of between US$105,740 (HK$824,800) and US$217,700.
The judge, who accepted Wei was merely ignorant, said that if he failed to impose the lengthy jail sentence, it would send a wrong message to opportunists, and in turn encourage the illicit trade.
Environmentalists described the sentence as “a step in the right direction” and said it would have a deterrent effect.
Wei was stopped by customs officers at Hong Kong International Airport on June 17 on his way home from Mozambique to Fujian. Officers found the rhino horn in a plastic bag in his luggage, but he had no valid certifying documents as required under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
