There are plenty of legal things to buy on eBay, but elephant ivory isn’t one of them.
Federal authorities in Los Angeles on Tuesday indicted a Thai national charged with trafficking in ivory from endangered African elephants, and a California doughnut shop owner who allegedly bought them on eBay. A whole elephant tusk, which can range from 3 to 6 feet in length, can go for up to $10,000 on the black market.
The U.S. forbids, with rare exceptions, the importation of ivory from African elephants, which are on the endangered species list, authorities said. Asian elephants are also on the endangered list.
The 11-count indictment charged Samart Chokchoyma of Bangkok and Moun Chau of Montclair, Calif., with conspiring to import the illegal items. Authorities alleged that Chokchoyma obtained African elephant ivory in Thailand and that Chau allegedly bought the items on online auction site eBay.
