SINGAPORE -- Chinese authorities have busted an international wildlife smuggling ring and brought in a haul of illegal animal parts worth roughly 24 million yuan (US$3.79 million).
According to the Chinese press, the police carried out a three-month investigation into the trafficking ring, and discovered that it reached Japan from China's mainland through Hong Kong.
The Beijing Forest Police Bureau said it confiscated 804.4 kg of raw ivory and ivory-based products, 11.3 kg of rhino horn and 35 bear paws. Sixteen people across various cities in China like Guangdong, Shandong and Hebei have been arrested, said thepaper.cn (link in Chinese).
The syndicate ran its own processing factory and had warehouses and delivery vehicles. They operated out of antique shops and sold their wares online.
British non-governmental group TRAFFIC (Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce), which tracks the trading of wildlife globally, said in a statement that it thinks the wildlife products in this case originated in Japan, where they were formerly legally owned. Items made from ivory and rhino horns were popular in the '80s but have seen their popularity plummet in recent years, and people have been selling these, it said.
Beijing police say they have cracked 222 cases and arrested 108 people involved in illegal smuggling in the last two years alone, not including this most recent case. The cases have also brought in 8.11 million yuan (US$1.28 million) worth of products, of which there was a collective 1,527 kg of ivory.
China continues to be one of the world's largest contributors to the illegal poaching market. In June, the U.S. State Department said the U.S. and China contribute nearly US$10 billion in profit to wildlife trafficking.
The two countries agreed to work together to squash trafficking, which includes game and marine animals.