CUSTOMS officers in Shanghai have seized 3.334 tonnes of ivory at Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in the Pudong New District.

　　This is the largest amount of smuggled ivory ever intercepted at a customs checkpoint in China.

　　The ivory included 303 complete African ivory tusks and 408 pieces of tusk. The largest tusk weighs more than 10 kg while the smallest piece is 1 kg. They were stored in a 20-foot container.

　　The owner of the container has not been identified.

　　Shanghai uncovered 45 cases of ivory smuggling last year. Two smugglers were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from five to six years.

　　The African elephant is on the verge of extinction and is under protection in most parts of the world. China signed an international treaty protecting the animal in January, 1981. Since a conference in Lausanne, Switzerland in October 1989, trade in African ivory has been banned.

　　According to Chinese law, the smuggling of valuable animals or their products worth 200,000 yuan (US$24,096) or more is punishable by death or life imprisonment.

　　(Xinhua)