The Customs & Excise Department yesterday seized 779 ivory tusks worth $10.6 million from a container shipped to Hong Kong.

Customs officers found the ivory tusks, weighing 1,323 kg, in a container declared to contain architectural stones arriving from Kenya.

Covered by stone plates, the ivory tusks were packed in 40 sacks inside five wooden crates.

An investigation to locate the smuggling syndicate members continues.

Any person found guilty of trading in endangered species for commercial purposes is liable to a fine of $5 million and two years' imprisonment.