Ivory coast arrests eight for pangolin smuggling
The authorities in Ivory Coast say they’ve seized a record haul of three tonnes of pangolin scales.
They say the haul represents about 4,000 of the endangered nocturnal mammals, captured in several West African countries.
A senior police officer with Ivory Coast’s organized crime unit, Thimotee Gnahore, said the scales were worth an estimated $82,000 (£63,000) on the local market but could fetch 100 times that amount in Asia, where they are used in traditional medicine.
Eight men of different nationalities have been arrested.