Hong Kong customs seize $4.2m of ivory

HONG KONG - One of the world's biggest ever seizures of illicit ivory - a haul of tusks which cost the lives of 600 African elephants - has been made in Hong Kong.

The raid was the outcome of a two-month-long, cross-border investigation by Hong Kong and Guangdong customs agents, South China Morning Post reported.

The unprecedented haul weighed 3.8 tonnes - 1.6 tonnes more than was seized worldwide in the whole of 2007.

It could have fetched upwards of HK$26.7 million (S$4.2 million) on Asia's booming black market.