Hong Kong seizes S$1.7m in illegal ivory

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong officials have made their second big seizure of illegal ivory in less than a month after confiscating more than a ton of the elephant tusks worth $1.4 million (S$1.7 million).

A government statement Friday said that customs officers discovered 569 pieces of ivory tusks weighing 1,330kg. The ivory was found on Thursday in a container shipped to Hong Kong's port.

The discovery comes just weeks after official confiscated nearly 4 tons of African ivory worth US$3.4 million. That bust was the city's biggest-ever seizure of endangered species products.

Wildlife activists blame China's growing presence in Africa for an unprecedented surge in poaching elephants for their tusks, most of which are believed to be smuggled to China and Thailand.