The Peoples Procuratorate of Guangzhou City Guangdong Province v. Hussein Yahya Yahya Al-Asri

On June 7, 2006, the defendant, Defendant Hussein Yahya Yahya Al-Asri, carrying large amounts of rare wildlife products into China, had violated the laws and regulations of the customs and seriously undermined the social order. His act, according to the Article 151, Article 59 and Article 64 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, constitutes a crime of smuggling rare animals. The defendant arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun Airport on a flight from Hong Kong. He was stopped and searched by the customs officials when he was going through the "Non-declare" lane. The customs officials discovered 14 elephant tusks almost weighing 60.73kg hidden in the suitcases of the defendant, worth over 3,500,000 RMB in total. The defendant alleged that he did not know that passengers were not allowed to carry ivory and ivory products into China, and that he could not read English so he did not fill out the Customs Declaration Form. (Provided by: UNODC SHERLOC)