Customs officers and police of the Tibet Autonomous Region on Thursday cracked the largest smuggling case of endangered animal fur in the region since 1951.

A total of 1,276 fur pieces were seized in Ngamring County, including 32 tiger furs, 579 leopard furs and 665 otter furs, worth 6.52 million yuan (795,000 US dollars), an officer said Friday.

A truck carrying the smuggled goods was discovered by the customs officers and police along the Chinese-Nepalese border Thursday night. Three smugglers from Markan and Gonjo counties were captured immediately.

All the goods were from two Nepalese who came to China by an entrance in the mountain along the border, according to the suspects. The case is now under further investigation.

Most of the animals had been shot, said Li Jianwen, an officer from the regional customs, adding that the case was rare even nationwide.

Since 1999, Chinese customs have cracked down on 217 smuggling cases of endangered animals, uncovered 18,713 living animals and 969-million-yuan of animal products, and 298 suspects have been prosecuted.

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