Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
A VALENCIA antiquarian shop was raided because it sold illegal goods made of elephant ivory.
127 items were removed by the Guardia Civil, who described the seizure as one of Spain’s ‘biggest-ever’.
The ivory comes from African and Asian elephants that are protected.
READ MORE
The Guardia’s environment unit Seprona said the ‘damage to fauna’ was €14 million while the commercial value of the items was €226,630.
On Monday, Colonel Juan Martinez Ros announced: “Our operations began in October last year when we noticed a significant increase of ivory pieces available for sale in Valencian Community.”
He said that the surveillance was done on people from all over Spain who had traveled to antique stores to avoid sales methods under control.
The officers then turned their attention to an antiques dealer in Valencia where they found 127 ivory pieces in different sizes, all carved with a minimalist aesthetic, mostly Asian.
The goods were seized because the dealer did not provide any supporting documents to prove their legality.
Four other people are being investigated for crimes such as smuggling, and crimes against the flora or fauna.
At a news briefing in Valencia, all the items on display were put up.
The biggest was a carved ivory horn- 1.77 metres long – dating bank to the nineteenth century and weighing 22 kilos.
The remaining carvings are between 40 cm and 90 centimeters long.
Click here to read more Crime & Law News from The Olive Press.
