Hongkou district police have seized more than 780 ivory carvings worth 4 million yuan ($630,000) and arrested five people suspected of participating in the illegal ivory trade, police announced yesterday.

"It has been rare in recent years to find such a large number of ivory pieces on sale in Shanghai," an officer surnamed Yang said at a press conference.

Police said it was the largest amount of illegal ivory seized in the past five years.

Police believed that they have busted an ivory smuggling syndicate that has operated for more than a decade in the city, Yang added.

Police were able to track down the suspects after arresting an illegal ivory trader surnamed Gong in January.

Gong, who sold ivory carvings at a bird and flower market on Zhoujiazui Road, provided information that led to the arrest of the five suspects, who were all related to him, police said.

In the end, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 30,000 yuan.

Plain-clothes police officers collected evidence of the ivory smuggling ring after following the suspects for two weeks. They were arrested on May 9 during a raid of two shops that sold illegal ivory pieces in downtown Huangpu district.

It is illegal to buy, sell or transport items made of rare wild animals in China.

Under Chinese law, the severity of the punishment depends on the value of the illegal goods.

One can be sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for selling such goods if their value is more than 200,000 yuan.

"In Shanghai, there are 15 licensed ivory shops and two legal ivory processing centers. We suggest that ivory collectors abide by the law and say no to illegal ivory traders and refuse to buy other products made from wild animals," Yang said.