Two rare tiger skin pelts, smuggled from Indonesia, have been seized recently by Qingdao Customs in east China's Shandong Province. Also confiscated were other tiger products, including tiger bones, teeth and gallbladders.

Qingdao Customs said that the confiscated pelts belonged to a rare animal, the Bengal Tiger. Any products made from them are strictly prohibited from entering into China according to the country's Criminal Law. This smuggling case involves approximately 1 million yuan or 135,000 dollars worth of goods.

The tiger skin pelts were found hidden in paperback boxes containing coffee powder, a mode often used by smugglers to conceal restricted substances.

The two smugglers, one Indonesian and one Chinese, have been detained.

Meanwhile, police also discovered that the Indonesian smuggler is an old hand in the trade when he admitted to having been involved in two other smuggling cases in July and August.

(CRI November 13, 2007)