In the past two months, the number of cases of illegal entry of endangered animals, plants and products seized by Shanghai Customs tripled

Recently, a middle court in Shanghai heard a case of suspected smuggling of African ivory and white rhinoceros horn products, and sentenced Dong Mou, the suspect, to 7 years' imprisonment and a fine of 150000 yuan on the crime of smuggling precious animal products At 7:00 on January 23, when the three large boxes attempted to break through the customs, Dong, 65, arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport from Paris, France When entering, he chose to take the non declaration channel and did not declare any articles to the customs However, during the inspection, 14 African ivory products weighing 23139g, 4 white rhinoceros horn products weighing 8098g and 3 white rhinoceros horn products weighing 8098g were seized by the Customs after the three boxes were unpacked for inspection, with a total value of 2.9886 million yuan Dong, 65, is the legal representative of an electromechanical company and has opened an antique shop He claimed that "I don't know that it's illegal to bring ivory and rhinoceros horn into the customs They are brought back for exhibition, not for money" However, the prosecution believes that Dong's confession is different from his statement at the investigation stage According to Dong's identity as the owner of an antique shop, he can be identified as having a profit-making purpose According to the public prosecution, they should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of smuggling precious animal products In recent years, Shanghai Customs has successively seized several cases of illegally carrying endangered animals and their products into China Last year, 5055 endangered animals and plants and their products, such as ivory, were seized, double the previous year In the first two months of this year, 839 endangered animals and plants and their products were seized in the channels of passenger luggage and postal articles, a three-fold increase year on year On March 2, customs officers found several ivory and ivory products wrapped in clothes and plastic film inside the luggage of the Dubai Shanghai flight According to the client's self-report, his mother had operated Ivory business in South Africa According to the identification of Shanghai wildlife identification center, the items involved are 6 whole pieces of African ivory, 4 African ivory carvings and 2 African ivory bracelets, including 4 ivory carvings and 2 Ivory bracelets with a total weight of 6245g, worth more than 1.7 million yuan At present, the party involved in this case has been detained for smuggling precious animal products It is worth noting that Shanghai Customs recently seized three cases of smuggling rhinoceros horn and its products at the airport port, and 27 cases of rhinoceros horn and its products, weighing about 33.9 kg, were seized China, as a signatory of the Convention on international trade in endangered species of Wild Fauna and flora, has banned trade in rhinoceros horn (including any identifiable part, medicines and handicrafts containing its ingredients, etc.) since 1993 The judge reminded most of the parties to admit that they brought these articles into the country for the purpose of profiteering, but there were also some lawbreakers due to ignorance According to China's Customs Law and the law on the protection of wild animals and plants, it is prohibited to trade, carry and mail endangered animal and plant products into and out of China without relevant import and export permission certificates Once seized, the party concerned will be subject to administrative penalties by the customs, and will be prosecuted for criminal responsibility for violating the criminal law According to the criminal law of China, Whoever smuggles precious animals and their products which are prohibited by the state from import and export shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment and shall also be sentenced to confiscation of property.