BANGKOK—The white ivory stood in sharp contrast to the dark beans that were hiding four tons of tusks smuggled from Congo on Monday. Thai customs officials, which intercepted the illegal shipment, said it was the biggest bust of ivory in the country’s history.
The 739 elephant tusks, bound for Laos, were seized upon arrival at a port in Bangkok on Saturday after the authorities received a tip-off and had tracked the containers from Congo, the Customs Department’s director-general Somchai Sujjapongse told reporters.
He said that the shipment of tusks, labeled as beans, was shipped out of Congo in February and went through Malaysia before reaching the Bangkok port.
