Two rare tiger skin pelts, smuggled from Indonesia, have been
seized recently by Qingdao Customs in east China's Shandong Province. Also confiscated were other
tiger products, including tiger bones, teeth and gallbladders.
Qingdao Customs said that the confiscated pelts belonged to a
rare animal, the Bengal Tiger. Any products made from them are
strictly prohibited from entering into China according to the
country's Criminal Law. This smuggling case involves approximately
1 million yuan or 135,000 dollars worth of goods.
The tiger skin pelts were found hidden in paperback boxes
containing coffee powder, a mode often used by smugglers to conceal
restricted substances.
The two smugglers, one Indonesian and one Chinese, have been
detained.
Meanwhile, police also discovered that the Indonesian smuggler
is an old hand in the trade when he admitted to having been
involved in two other smuggling cases in July and August.
(CRI November 13, 2007)
