Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- In one of the biggest busts of its kind in Hong Kong , customs authorities this week seized more than 1,100 ivory tusks , 13 rhino horns and five leopard pelts . The haul , found in a container shipped from Nigeria , is valued at more than $ 5.3 million . On August 6 , Hong Kong customs officials -- tipped off by their mainland Chinese counterparts -- detained `` two suspicious containers '' for inspection , according to a Hong Kong government press release . Authorities found the animal products `` inside 21 sealed wooden crates at the rear of one of the containers . '' Authorities have not made any arrests in this case so far . Following this week 's discovery , Hong Kong customs have now confiscated some eight tons of elephant ivory -- in at least four separate hauls -- within the past year . With a black market price of almost $ 3,000 a kilogram , its total worth could easily surpass the $ 20 million mark . Customs officials in July opened a container originating from Togo to find 1,148 tusks valued at $ 2.2 million . On April 30 , airport customs officers zeroed in on a package labelled as `` spare parts '' originating from Burundi , transiting through Hong Kong and with Singapore as its final destination . Authorities discovered 113 ivory tusks valued at nearly $ 400,000 . In November 2012 , Hong Kong authorities seized $ 1.4 million worth of smuggled ivory in a container from Tanzania . The 569 tusks were found buried under hundreds of bags of sunflower seeds . And in a bust just one month earlier , customs officers detained two containers from Tanzania and Kenya that claimed to be ferrying scrap plastic . More than four tons of ivory -- some 1,200 ivory tusks -- were found . The haul , valued at $ 3.4 million , made for one of the biggest seizures of ivory tusk in the history of the Chinese territory . Conservationists estimate that 25,000 elephants were killed for their ivory in 2011 . Poaching levels have not been that high for more than 10 years . In many parts of the continent , murder rates now exceed population growth , putting elephants at risk of extinction . The reason is simple , said Jeffrey Gettleman , East Africa Bureau Chief for the New York Times to CNN 's Christiane Amanpour . `` It 's the economic growth in Asia . And what 's interesting is a lot of these economies are becoming more modern , more sophisticated , more advanced , like China , Vietnam , other parts of Asia , but they still adhere to traditional beliefs . And in many parts of Asia , ivory and rhino horn powder are valued for ceremonial purposes , for religious purposes , cultural purposes . '' China is the world 's number one market for ivory products , according to animal welfare groups . Hong Kong , the world 's third largest port , serves as an easy entry point into and out of mainland China . As China 's citizens have grown in wealth , their demand for ivory -- often referred to as `` white gold '' in the country -- has also rocketed . In fact , the fate of many of Africa 's elephants lie in a small number of Chinese hands , said National Geographic 's Bryan Christy to CNN 's Amanpour . `` We have 35 registered carving factories in China . That 's all -- 135 registered retail shops . Only 300 or 400 registered known carvers . It 's a very small number of people imposing an incredible cost on Africa . '' Since 2009 , the number of large-scale seizures of ivory headed for Asia -- categorized as more than 800 kilograms per shipment -- has more than doubled according to a March 2013 report by CITES , the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species . The number of incidents hit a record in 2011 . Under Hong Kong law , a person found guilty of trading endangered species for commercial purposes is liable to a maximum fine of $ 5 million and imprisonment for two years .
Hong Kong customs seized more than 1100 ivory tusks , 13 rhino horns , five leopard pelts . Illegal haul , found in container shipped from Nigeria , estimated at $ 5.3 million . Black market price for ivory is almost $ 3,000 per kilogram . Economic growth in Asia , demand from China pushing appetite for ivory .