Chinese fined for smuggling ivory

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A 51-YEAR-OLD Chinese man was yesterday fined $100 for smuggling ivory when he appeared before Victoria Falls resident magistrate Sharon Rosemani on Tuesday

A 51-YEAR-OLD Chinese man was yesterday fined $100 for smuggling ivory when he appeared before Victoria Falls resident magistrate Sharon Rosemani on Tuesday.

NOKUTHABA DLAMINI OWN CORRESPONDENT

Sun Bin pleaded guilty to Contravening Section 182 of the (Customs and Excise) Act Chapter 23:02, but said he had bought the artefact in Bulawayo at the just-ended Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.

Before sentencing Bin, the magistrate warned him to be careful of things he buys.

“I considered that it is your first time to be arrested here and that you are a family man and old, but as a tourist you must be careful of things you buy. The value of the artefact is not something much and you bought it without knowing it was real ivory. I don’t see that there will be a benefit to justice over this,” Rosemani said.

Sun was fined $100 and the piece was forfeited to the State.

For the State, Listen Nare told the court that Bin intended to board a flight to Johannesburg at the Victoria Falls International Airport on April 28 when his bag was scanned.

The scan did not pick up anything, but Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) sniffer dogs started barking close to Bin’s suitcase. Zimra workers opened and searched his bag and discovered a shaped piece of ivory leading to his arrest.