Customs officials in Hong Kong seized an illegal shipment of elephant ivory, rhino horns, and leopard skinds worth in excess of A$5.8 million.

The contraband was hidden in a cargo container containing 21 crates that were labeled to contain “red cam process wood” exported from Nigeria.  In all, they contained 1,120 ivory tusks, 13 rhino horns and five leopard skins weighing a total of 2,266 kilograms.

It is the fourth shipment of ivory stopped in Hong Kong this year.  But the direction of the transit is perplexing customs officials.  Usually, this sort of thing enters Hong Kong with a final destination somewhere in Mainland China.  In this case, the cargo was transferred from Shanghai to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong customs officials say they would like to do more to smash smuggling rings, but there are not enough hours in the day.

“We do not have the capacity to check every (container),” said Vincent Wong Sui-hang, group head of customs port control.  “If we process each and every container, we won't be ranked the No 3 port in the world.”