Japanese Police Arrest 4 Fake Mammoth Ivory Sellers

Four people were arrested for allegedly selling elephant tusk as a mammoth ivory at an online auction to avoid a trade ban, Japanese police said on Wednesday.

Nobumasa Daigo, a 58-year-old executive from Daigo Ivory Co. who processed and sold ivory products, and three other family members who worked for a company headquartered in Saitama Prefecture near Tokyo were arrested on Monday on suspicion of violating the Unhealthy Competition Prevention Act which prohibits labeling misleading goods.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, which leads the investigation, suspects the company annually selling elephant tusk and ivory products worth about 100 million yen (695,000 US dollars) by labeling it an ivory mammoth, an extinct species.

The four were arrested on suspicion of selling the product for a total of about 126,500 yen to four male customers through the auction site between October 2022 and November 2023, police said, quoted from Kyodo News June 4.

The police said the case was revealed after receiving information from the Ministry of Economics, Trade, and Industry.

The suspects have acknowledged the allegations, according to police.

It is known that the International Trade Convention of the Endangered Fauna and Flora Liar Species, also known as the Washington Convention, has in principle banned international ivory trade from thwarting the threat of elephant poaching.

Elephant ivory has been traded under the guise of a mammoth ivory because it is difficult to distinguish, according to the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund environmental organization.

In Japan, commercial trade in elephant ivory is permitted if certified by state-backed organizations as legally acquired ivory.