PRETORIA: South African customs officials discovered 267 kilograms of ivory valued at 4 million rand ($326,000) during inspections in the cargo area of OR Tambo International Airport, near Johannesburg.
Officials noticed a pallet containing several plastic shrink-wrapped boxes during profiling of shipments, the South African Revenue Service said in an e-mailed statement. Further scrutiny of the supporting documents revealed that the goods were declared as handicrafts originating from Zimbabwe destined for Vietnam.
OR Tambo was being used as a transit point before the final destination to the Far East.
A case has been opened with the police for further investigation.