Yesterday, the Customs and the Marine Police intercepted 40 boxes of frozen meat being smuggled early in the morning in Lau Fau Shan, the New Territories. The meat is suspected to be from masked palm civets and pangolins, and is estimated to have a value of HKD1.4 million. (Add that to the things you didn’t know had market prices…)
A masked palm civet (Denise Chan via Wikimedia)
The officials encountered “several suspicious men” loading boxes onto a speedboat. When confronted, the men fled in their boat, leaving the boxes of frozen meat behind. It’s unclear whether or not the meat was being smuggled into or out of Hong Kong, but we’d sure like to know where the carcasses of endangered animals are ending up, especially if smugglers are using our city as the distribution hub.
The boxes of frozen meat
Of the four species of Asian pangolins, the Chinese and Malayan pangolins are critically endangered, while the Philippine and the Indian pangolins are (just normal) endangered. The masked palm civet is not endangered at all, so screw him.
Under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of illegally exporting a specimen of a listed species without a licence is liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months.
