Hong Kong Customs seize 10.6 tons of smuggled red sandalwood

The Hong Kong Customs on Thursday seized about 10.6 tons of smuggled logs of suspected red sandalwood, an endangered species.

The wood logs were found in a container at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound. The total value of the seizure was about 6.6 million Hong Kong dollars (about 850,000 U.S dollars).

Customs officers, through risk assessment, inspected a 20-foot container from India which said to contain "glass flower pot." But wood logs were found in the container.

As the wood logs were not declared on the manifest, they were seized by Customs officers for further investigation.

Under the Import and Export Ordinance of Hong Kong, any person found guilty of importing unmanifested cargoes is facing a maximum

fine of 2 million Hong Kong dollars and imprisonment for seven years.

Under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of illegally importing a specimen of a scheduled species of Appendix II without a license is liable to a maximum fine of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars and imprisonment for six months. Endi