Hong Kong customs seizes a tonne of pangolin scales in biggest haul of year so far
- HK$6.2 million worth of the scales and snake products found in container arriving from Indonesia
- Haul was bound for mainland China via a warehouse in New Territories, law enforcement source suspects
The HK$6.2 million (US$800,000) haul was believed to be bound for a New Territories warehouse so it could be smuggled into mainland China, a law enforcement source said.
But officers from the Customs and Excise Department discovered the consignment on Wednesday last week during an inspection at the Kwai Chung cargo examination compound.
Declared as carrying frozen fish, the container arrived in the city from Jakarta about two weeks ago.
“After removing more than 1,000 bags of frozen fish from the container, officers found over 40 bags carrying pangolin scales along with one bag of dried snake gall bladders,” the source said.
He said the scales had an estimated street value of HK$6 million and the gall bladders were worth about HK$200,000.
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