Unlucky Crocodiles
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Chinese customs
sieze more than 3,000 crocodile skins
(Xinhua)Updated: 2014-12-24
19:27
XIAMEN - Customs
authorities in East China's Fujian province seized a staggering 3,022 crocodile
skins illegally shipped from Taiwan.
In mid-June, a
Fujian-based trade company lodged a declaration for a batch of frozen fish
balls from Taiwan, but later customs officers found 1,328 crocodile skins
disguised by the fish balls in the port city Xiamen, according to a spokesman
with the Xiamen Customs.
The customs'
investigation found that two Taiwanese businessmen imported the skins from
Singapore, dyed them in Taiwan and paid a Taiwan logistics company to ship the
skins to the mainland.
The Fujian-based
company was commissioned by the logistics company to clear the goods at the
Xiamen customs. The crocodile skins, often used as material for luxury
handbags, were scheduled to be sent to Guangzhou, a major trading hub for
leather products.
The Fujian company was
found to have helped the logistics company traffick two batches of 1,694
crocodile skins in May and early June.
The case has been
handed over to prosecutors, according to the spokesman.
The crocodile was
listed in the Appendix II of The Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), meaning that it was
"not necessarily threatened with extinction", but "trade must be
controlled" to avoid over-exploitation.
The products derived
from CITES-listed species need appropriate document to go through customs. China joined the convention in 1981.
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