This handout photo taken on April 16, 2021 and received from the Philippine Coast Guard on April 17 shows coast guard personnel inspecting seized giant clam shells, weighing a total of 200 tonnes and worth some US$25 million on Green island in Roxas town, Palawan province.- AFP
MANILA, April 17 (AFP): Philippine authorities said Saturday they have seized some 200 tonnes of illegally harvested giant clam shells worth nearly US$25 million in one of the biggest known operations of its kind in the country.
Conservationists have expressed alarm over the surging illicit trade in the endangered creatures, which are used as a substitute for ivory following a global crackdown in the trade of elephant tusks.
