Custom officers have seized several dozen illegal ivory jewellery pieces from a German citizen worth up to GBP 4,300 per kilogramme on the black market.

Custom officers from the city of Dresden in Germany confiscated about 60 pieces of illegal ivory jewellery from a citizen at the airport in the city of Leipzig in Germany.

The man, who was not named but the police reported was aged 28, tried to smuggle six prayer chains and 54 individual chain links made of ivory on 9th June.

This is not the first time Dresden custom officers have had trouble with the man as they seized seven post items consisting of 20 chains, two rings and an ivory walking stick with a total weight of 1.8 kilogrammes (3.9 lbs) sent from Egypt and addressed to the 28-year-old man at the end of 2020.

After officers confiscated the items, the subject was accused of illegally importing elephant ivory products into Germany and then reselling them for profit without possessing an appropriate species protection permit.

According to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which is also known as the Washington Convention, the purchase, import and trade of elephant ivory is a criminal offense under the Federal Nature Conservation Act.

Despite the law, around 20,000 African elephants are killed by poachers each year for their ivory tusks.

Various online sources report that ivory can reach a price of up to GBP 4,300 per kilogramme on the black market.

Ongoing investigations by the Leipzig Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Dresden Customs Bureau might take some time to complete, according to the police.

If found guilty, the 28-year-old man faces a prison sentence of up to five years.