BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese customs and Singaporean customs cooperated to crack down on an international criminal gang, seizing 8.8 tonnes of smuggled ivory and arresting 12 suspects, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) of China said Tuesday.
With accurate intelligence provided by Chinese customs, Singaporean customs intercepted 8.8 tonnes of ivory. The case also led to the seizure of 11.9 tonnes of smuggled pangolin scales.
The case is the first joint cross-border crackdown by Chinese customs and Singapore through international law enforcement cooperation, which has wiped out the transnational smuggling network, said Wang Zhi, director of Nanning Customs.
Under the command of the GAC, Nanning, Harbin, Guangzhou and other customs offices cooperated with the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region public security department and arrested 12 suspects.
The smuggling gang has long organized the purchase of endangered species such as ivory and pangolin scales and their products in Africa, hiding them in containers and transporting them by sea, according to the GAC.
After transiting through Singapore and other countries, the gang is looking for opportunities to smuggle them to China and its neighboring countries.
Since the beginning of this year, China has strengthened international law enforcement cooperation, and several cross-border joint crackdowns have been carried out.
In these joint crackdowns, customs in Singapore, Vietnam and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have seized 11 tonnes of ivory, 59.8 tonnes of pangolin scales and 90.5 kg of rhino horn, according to the GAC.
