Beijing police on Monday said they have busted the largest wildlife trafficking gang and seized wildlife products worth over 24 million yuan ($3.8 million), including over 800 kilograms of ivory, 11 kilograms of rhino horns and 35 bear paws.
Police said they have arrested 16 people in the three-month crackdown after receiving information on an ivory trade scheduled to take place in Beijing in May, news site thepaper.cn reported.
They added the wildlife products originated from Japan and entered the mainland market via Hong Kong and other port cities like Shenzhen of Guangdong Province, and Weihai of Shandong Province.
Since 2013, Beijing authorities have broken up 222 illegal wildlife trade cases and arrested 108 people.
They said they have seized wildlife products worth over 8 million yuan, including over 1.5 tons of ivory.
