HONOLULU — A Hawaii Kai man has been arrested after federal law officials raided an Iwilei warehouse as part of an investigation into the illegal ivory trade.
KHNL-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1Q0XQHG ) agents arrested and filed a criminal complaint against Sergio Biscocho for smuggling.
Federal investigators seized several boxes of elephant and walrus ivory and whale bone that had been imported into Hawaii during the past year. All three are banned in the U.S.
A witness told investigators a Hawaii jewelry maker sent the ivory to Biscocho in the Philippines. He made fish hooks and other carvings out of them, and then shipped the finished products back to them.
Investigators say they were told the smuggling went on for three years.
If found guilty, Biscocho faces up to 20 years in jail.