Even as Singapore Customs busted an $8 million shipment of illegal ivory, horns and teeth earlier this year, smugglers aren't discouraged. On Dec 12, an attempt to smuggle wildlife products through Singapore failed to reach its end destination of Laos as Singapore Customs intercepted an air shipment of illegal ivory and Pangolin scales.
The 0.8-tonne shipment originated from Lago, Nigeria and was labelled as "complete wigs of synthetic textile materials". A closer inspection by Singapore Customs and officers from the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) uncovered 505kg worth of raw elephant tusks as well as pangolin scales weighing about 324kg.