Malaysia foils attempt to smuggle ivory tusks, pangolin scales

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 2 (IANS) Malaysian authorities have foiled two attempts to smuggle elephant ivory tusks and pangolin scales, worth up to $1 million, an official said on Wednesday.

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department on Sunday seized 23 ivory tusks weighing 75.74 kg, with an estimated value of 275,542 ringgit ($64,266) at a warehouse of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Xinhua news agency quoted the official as saying.

On the same day, the authorities also seized pangolin scales weighing about 300 kg, valued at about 3.86 million ringgit ($0.9 million) at an airport warehouse.

The ivory was declared as "food stuff" and the pangolin scales as "fish maw", the official said.

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