On April 9, 2011, the defendant, Li Ming (Chinese passport holder) was captured by custom officials at the immigration hall of Huang Gang, Shenzhen with 100 Ivory products in his bag. The confiscated products included 4 Ivory crowns, 24 pairs of ivory chopsticks, 6 ivory seal embryo, 7 ivory necklace, 13 ivory bracelets, 6 ivory combs, 2 ivory bracelets, 4 ivory rings, 9 ivory heart-shaped pendant, 1 ivory cigarette holder. Identified by State Forestry Administration Detecting Center of Wildlife, the items, which weigh 7.74 kg in total, were Asian or African elephant ivory or ivory products. In accordance with the relevant provisions of “The Notice of National Forestry Bureau on Evaluation of Value of Smuggled Ivory and Ivory Products”, the seized ivory products were worth RMB ￥322502.58.
The defendant pleaded guilty in court but disagreed with the value of the ivory product.
The defendant argued that :
1. The defendant Li purchased ivory products for his own collection and for his friends as gifts, not for the purpose of smuggling and reselling;
2. The defendant had no knowledge that travelers are not allowed to bring ivory product into China, and he was not trying to avoid the supervision and control of the Customs, instead, he actively cooperated during inspection;
3 The price of involved ivory products only worth a few thousand yuan, which is much lower than ￥322502.58;
On December 14, 2011, based on the criminal facts and circumstances of the defendants and the degree of harm to the society, the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City rendered the following judgment:
Defendant: Li Ming
Verdict: Guilty
Charge/Claim: Smuggling
Term of imprisonment: 3 years
Fine/Payment to the State: 50000 RMB
The captured ivory products smuggled by Li Ming were to be confiscated.
Li Ming was an employee of the Nigerian unit of French group Lafarge.
The Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City:
1. The court recognizes the fact that the involved ivory products were legally purchased in African Market, and there is no evidence show that the defendant bought them for the purpose of sale and profit.
2. It has been proved that the defendants, knowing that the ivory products could not be imported, brought them back to the country, claiming he had nothing to declare when going through customs. Therefore, the court would not accept the argument of the defendant that he did not intended to conceal the ivory products that he attempted to bring into the country.
3. The ivory products were seized at the customs, the defendant did not constitute a "voluntary surrender".
The defendants, Li Ming, ignoring the laws of this country and violating the customs regulations, smuggled rare ivory products which worth more than ￥320000, his act had constituted the crime of smuggling as provided for in Article 151 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China and the Article 7 of “Notice of the General Administration of Customs on Issuing Several Opinions on the Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Smuggling”, the defendant might be sentenced to imprisonment of over five years. Considering the facts that elephant ivory products can be legally owned or bought in Nigeria, and there was no evidence that the defendant intended to resell the items, the defendant could be given mitigated punishment.
After announcement of the judgment of first instance, the defendants, Li Ming, did not file an appeal.
The Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen City
