Two Syrians arrested with banned ivory at city airport

Two Syrian nationals were caught with elephant tusks in their bags by the CISF at the Ahmedabad airport on Sunday. According to the CISF, the duo - Ibrahim and Hesham - were arrested during a routine check at about 5.30 in the morning. The foreigners were about to fly to Sharjah when the cops opened their bags and found the banned items worth over Rs1.75 lakh. Both the suspects were later sent to customs office.

Conservator of forest DK Sharma quizzed the travellers for over three hours and gathered information about the illegal trade from them.

"Ten Syrians came to Alang from Africa in a ship and later two of them, Ibrahim and Hesham, came to Ahmedabad on way to Sharjah. Further investigation is still on. According to the duo, they had bought elephant tusks from a market in Tanzania. Customs department has handed over the case to forest department. It is not yet clear how they managed to dodge the customs officials at Alang. We have seized two pieces of ivory weighing 2.2 kg. The cost of the ivory in international market is $1,500 per kg," he said.
"Both the Syrians will be charged under the Indian Custom Act and the Wildlife Protection Act. Both may get three to five years of imprisonment," Sharma added.