Man returning from US held with 25 Shahtoosh shawls

Posted: Thu Sep 15 2011, 01:37 hrs
New Delhi: Discount Shopping Discussion

In one of the biggest wildlife seizures in over 10 years, the Customs department seized 25 Shahtoosh shawls and other goods worth Rs 1.69 crore from a passenger who arrived from Washington, DC at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday.

Mudasir Gulam Ahmed Mugloo, a resident of Srinagar, who arrived from Washington, DC by flight VS-300 on Tuesday morning, had also not declared USD 21,291/- and GBP 1,025/-, equivalent to Rs 10,29,845, in the Currency Declaration Form (CDF). Mugloo told investigating officials that he had taken these goods to the US for selling. He was returning back to India with the remaining items, he said.

“All goods have been seized under Section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962 on the reasonable belief that the same were smuggled into India and were, therefore, liable to confiscation under the Custom Act, 1962 read with the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and CITES (The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), to which India is a signatory,” Additional Commissioner (IGIA Customs) Ashutosh Baranwal told Newsline.
Mugloo has been arrested and investigations are on in the case.

On landing at the Delhi Airport, Mugloo was diverted from the Green Channel for a detailed examination on suspicion by the Customs officials.

Earlier, on questioning by Customs, he stated that all garments were Pashmina and no Shahtoosh shawl was present in the baggage. “Detailed examination of his baggage resulted in recovery of 25 Shahtoosh shawls, a prohibited animal article for commerce derived from Scheduled animal. The same was identified and certified by the Inspector of Wildlife from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), New Delhi,” the Customs official said.

Also found with the passenger were 89 Pashmina shawls, 55 stoles in commercial quantity, three watches of different brands, one laptop (Apple Mac Pro), an Apple I-pad (64 GB).

As per Wildlilfe Crime Bureau officials, Shahtoosh is obtained from the under fleece of ‘Chiru’ (Tibetan Antelope), for which it is killed and skinned. International market value of a Shahtoosh shawl ranges between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakhs per piece and can fetch more depending on the handwork and dyeing.

“At least four Chiru Antelopes are killed to make one such shawl,” the official said.

Customs officials said the international market price of the 25 seized Shahtoosh shawls comes to Rs 1.53 crore (24 shawls at Rs 6 lakh each and 1 shawl at Rs 9 lakh). As revealed by the passenger to the officials, the 89 Pashmina shawls are valued at Rs 13. 8 lakh, the 55 stoles are valued at Rs 79,720/- and other goods valued at Rs. 96,056/-. All the goods were seized as they were used to conceal the consignment of Shahtoosh shawls.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Man-returning-from-US-held-with-25-Shahtoosh-shawls/846881/

Ivory seized in Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5th September 2011—The Royal Malaysian Customs has seized two containers filled with 695 elephant tusks in the country’s largest port, bringing to three the number of large-scale seizures of ivory in the past three months.

The shipment, labeled as “recycled craft plastic” originated in Tanzania and was destined for China, said Customs assistant director-general Datuk Zainul Abidin Taib.

The tusks, weighing close to 2,000 kg were packed in gunny sacks and hidden under the plastic material, the same way it had been in the shipment seized a fortnight ago in Penang, Zainol said.

The seizure in Penang on 21st August, consisted of 664 African elephant tusks hidden in a container from the United Arab Emirates. The 1.5 tonne seizure, declared as “used plastics”, was made at the Butterworth Port, in the northwest of Peninsular Malaysia.

In an earlier seizure on 8th July, the Wildlife and National Parks Department and Customs Department seized a container of 405 African elephant tusks declared as plywood at the Pasir Gudang Port, in the southernmost state of Johor.

Speaking on the latest seizure, Zainul said it would not have been possible without information from the public.

“We hope the public will continue to co-operate with Customs and provide us with timely information,” he told TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

No arrests have been made so far but Zainul said investigations into the three recent cases would continue.

Malaysia has come under a harsh spotlight in recent months for its role as a transshipment point in high-profile ivory seizures in Hong Kong and from Kenya and Tanzania.

“This latest in a series of major ivory seizures in Malaysia is both heartening and disappointing,” said TRAFFIC Southeast Asia Regional Director Dr William Schaedla.

“It’s heartening because it shows that the country’s authorities can and will take action on the problem. It’s disappointing because it clearly validates what TRAFFIC has been saying for some time now – Malaysia is a major transshipping country for illegal ivory.”

Schaedla congratulated the Customs Department on the successful seizures and urged continued vigilance both in Malaysia and in the region.

“Illegal wildlife trade is fluid. Now that the ivory traffickers have been caught out using some of Malaysia’s ports they are likely to move through others in an effort to keep their black market business alive.”



http://www.traffic.org/home/2011/9/5/large-ivory-seizure-in-malaysia-the-third-in-past-three-mont.html

Cross border smuggling on rise in Indo-China border

Trafficking of rare stuff - in high demand at the international market - is on the rise on India’s border with China in Himachal Pradesh. For second time in past 13 months police has detected cross border smuggling on “porous” border with China in remote Kinnaur district raising questions about security arrangements.


Police on Monday seized two trucks laden with costly pashmina wool that was smuggled from Chinese villages to Indian border. The estimated cost of the seized wool is pegged at around Rs 1.5 crore in the international market. The police seized these trucks near Kharo in Pooh subdivision that is 100 kilometers from Nako a village close to China border in the district.

Reliable sources have told Hindustan Times that consignment of pashmina wool had been brought from the border villages in China. The pashmina wool that weighs about five tonne had been brought on the pony backs from Churup village in China administered Tibetan Autonomous Region. The wool is harvested from Himalayan mountain goat. The goat is found in Kashmir, Tibet and Nepal primarily. As pashmina wool set the fashion world on fire in the 1990s, it has high price in the international market.

Sources said that cops have also found some quantity of shatoosh wool sheared from rare Tibetan antelope Chiru. Wildlife reports have put that 20,000 of the wild animals that live on China's Tibetan Plateau are killed each year or are either shot in herds by automatic weapons or caught in leg-hold traps-for their prized coats. The shahtoosh trade was banned globally in 1975 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) following a fall in the number of the antelopes. The Indian government followed and banned the trade in 1991.

The local drivers of the impounded trucks have told police that the wool was being taken to police. Local cops are also questioning one Kamla Nand a local said to be having close connections with Chinese traders. Reliable information said that Nand was arrested few days back while smuggling rare scotch Whiskies to China villages. Nand is said to informer for the military sources.

If sources are to be believed police had seized two trucks laden with pashmina wool and about eight other have already made their way into the Delhi markets. “Right now we cannot say anything except that tow trucks laden with Pashmina wool had been seized,” said Superintendent of Police in Kinnaur Ashok Kumar.

In August 2010 police has seized 12 tonnes of red sanders wood that was enruote to China. Red sanders wood grows in the forest of Andhra Pradesh is in high demand in China. The red sanders wood contains thorium is used as coolant in the old fashioned nuclear reactors; it is also used in medicines and making musical instruments in China.

Investigations revealed that the truck drivers had been issued permits by Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) officers. ITBP is responsible for managing the security along Indian border in two tribal districts Lahual and Spiti and Kinnaur. The police sleuths had detected involvement of ITBP officials in the incident. A commandant and cops had been suspended for their involvement.

The latest case of cross border smuggling had once again raised question about the security along the Indo-China border.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Cross-border-smuggling-on-rise-in-Indo-China-border/Article1-741981.aspx

Nearly 800 pieces of ivory seized in Hong Kong

Customs officers in Hong Kong have reported the seizure of 794 pieces of ivory tusks weighing 1.9 tonnes, concealed inside a shipping container that arrived from Malaysia Monday.

The consignment was declared as products for factory use, but upon examination by officers of the Ports and Maritime Command was found to contain African elephant ivory, concealed by stones.

A 66-year-old man was arrested and follow-up investigations are in progress.

“The authorities in Hong Kong are to be congratulated on this important seizure, but it is now vital to ensure that all leads are followed to track down those responsible along the entire smuggling chain,” said Tom Milliken, Elephant & Rhino Programme Coordinator at wildlife trade network TRAFFIC.

“This looks like another huge consignment of ivory aimed at the Chinese market, only days after the CITES Standing Committee recommended a review of China’s internal ivory trade protocol to determine whether there are possibilities for illicitly sourced ivory to leak into the legal ivory trade system.”

Globally, illicit trade in ivory has been escalating since 2004 and Chinese consumption is considered to be the leading driver behind Africa’s elephant poaching crisis.

This is not the first time Hong Kong has made a large seizure of ivory arriving from Malaysia. In December 2009, 186 pieces of ivory were found inside a container shipped from Malaysia labeled as containing “White Wood”. That shipment originated in Nigeria, but the origins of yesterday’s consignment have not been disclosed.

In 2003, Hong Kong authorities also seized 275 tusks, weighing nearly 2 tonnes, transiting from Malaysia after being illegally exported from Tanzania.

And again, last week, more than 1000 ivory tusks were seized in Zanzibar, Tanzania, apparently en route to Malaysia.

Milliken manages the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), the illegal ivory trade monitoring system that TRAFFIC runs on behalf of Parties to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

ETIS holds the details of nearly 17,000 reported ivory and other elephant product seizures that have taken place anywhere in the world since 1989.

A total of 164 ivory seizures have occurred in Hong Kong during this 23-year period, collectively representing over 17 tonnes of elephant ivory.

According to the most recent full analysis of ETIS, published in 2009, “Malaysia has progressively gained prominence in successive ETIS analyses as a transit country for African ivory.”

Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia issued a statement saying it was highly concerned over last week’s seizure in Zanzibar and had contacted Tanzanian authorities with regard to the case.

“This latest Hong Kong seizure further underscores Malaysia’s role as an intermediary country in the illicit flow of African ivory to Asia,” said Milliken. “It’s time for Malaysia to get tough on international ivory smugglers, who are tarnishing the country’s reputation.”

TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN.
http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?201487/Nearly-800-pieces-of-ivory-seized-in-Hong-Kong