CHINA’S IVORY TOWN
An explosive investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency has revealed how criminal gangs originating from an obscure town in southern China have come to dominate the smuggling of ivory tusks poached from African elephants.
Shuidong town is home to a network of ivory trafficking syndicates whose reach extends to East and West Africa, including the elephant poaching hotspots of Tanzania and Mozambique. Investigators from EIA infiltrated the syndicate over a period of three years and published their findings in a report titled The Shuidong Connection: Exposing the global hub of the illegal ivory trade. According to one member of the syndicate, the town is the destination for a staggering 80 per cent of all poached ivory that is smuggled into China from Africa.
Julian Newman, EIA Campaigns Director, said: “EIA has shared, in confidence, the detailed intelligence unearthed during the course of the Shuidong investigation with relevant government departments and enforcement agencies and looks to them to use it. Action is needed to end this huge criminal enterprise, which is devastating Africa’s elephant populations.”
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This story is from the August 2017 edition of Sanctuary Asia.
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This story is from the August 2017 edition of Sanctuary Asia.
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CHINA’S IVORY TOWNAn explosive investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency has revealed how criminal gangs originating from an obscure town in southern China have come to dominate the smuggling of ivory tusks poached from African elephants.
