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Smugglers jailed as China s biggest ever illegal ivory network smashed mizzima.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mizzima.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Seventeen people have been jailed including two for life for running China s largest ever ivory smuggling ring, moving millions of dollars of tusks from west Africa into the mainland s vast domestic market.
Demand for ivory carvings and jewellery among China s expanding middle class led to poaching crisis across Africa, and although a 2018 ban on ivory trade in China has improved the situation, a vast black market still exists.
A court in the southern city of Guangzhou on Tuesday handed long prison terms to 17 people involved in smuggling over 20 tons of ivory worth more than 1 billion yuan ($156 million).