158 elephant tusks in 6 crates seized at Thai airport

The Associated Press

Posted: Jul 17, 2012 7:56 AM ET

Last Updated: Jul 17, 2012 9:35 AM ET

Thai customs officials show 158 pieces of seized ivory in six crates during a news conference in Bangkok on Tuesday. (Apichart Weerawong/Associated Press)

Thai customs officials have seized 456 kilograms of African ivory — 158 elephant tusks in six crates — at Bangkok's international airport.

The tusks were discovered Friday hidden in crates aboard a flight from Kenya.

Customs officials displayed the haul Tuesday.

The officials said they acted on a tip-off to seize the ivory, which was in crates labelled as handicrafts. No arrests have been made.

The seized ivory probably will be destroyed.

Ivory shipped to Thailand typically is used to make Buddhist carvings or jewelry. Thailand is also a transit point for other markets, including China.

The international trade in ivory was banned by an international convention known as CITES in 1989 as a measure to prevent the poaching of elephants, which has taken a huge toll on their numbers globally in recent decades.

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