Hong Kong Customs said on Friday that a suspected sea-bound cargo smuggling case was detected on Tuesday when about 2,000 kg of pangolin scales were seized.

The customs officers found the pangolin scales, which were worth about 10 million HK dollars (about 1.29 million U.S. dollars) , in a container arriving from Nigeria at the Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound.

The pangolin scales come from an endangered species and were not declared on the manifest.

Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing unmanifested cargoes is liable to a maximum fine of 2 million HK dollars and imprisonment for seven years.

Under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of illegally importing a specimen of scheduled species of Appendix II without a license faces a maximum fine of 50,000 HK dollars and imprisonment for six months. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.76 HK dollars)

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