The three were arrested on Monday while trying to drive the 1,932 kilogrammes (4,250 pounds) of ivory from a shipyard in two containers, a customs and excise spokesman said.

They had declared the ivory, believed to be from Tanzania, as 300 pieces of wood carvings imported from Malaysia.

The import and trading of ivory are banned in Hong Kong after a worldwide moratorium on such trade declared in 1989 by the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Hong Kong has historically played a major role in the global ivory trade.

According to customs statistics, from 1979 to 1988 Hong Kong was the leading re-exporter of raw ivory, shipping 1,256 tonnes to markets in the East and West, particularly Japan which in the same period imported a massive 2,827 tonnes of raw ivory.

Prior to the international ban, China was renowned for its skilled ivory carvers and boasted some of the largest ivory carving factories in the world.

TERRA.WIRE