18 Jul 2012

Ivory shipment seized in Bangkok

9:31 am on 18 July 2012

Customs officers in Thailand have seized nearly half a tonne of ivory at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok.

The elephant tusks were hidden in wooden crates labelled as handicrafts on a flight from Kenya. AFP reports they were worth $US722,212.

Ivory trading is banned under an international convention to prevent the poaching of elephants.

Ivory shipped to Thailand is often made into carvings or jewellery, or sold to other countries such as China for what is said to be medicinal use.