Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Customs officers at the "Gishtkuprik" border checkpoint in Tashkent region intercepted an illegal shipment of 717 deer antlers, according to Uzbekistan’s Customs Committee.

A car attempting to cross the border was found to have 600 antlers concealed in its trunk, while an additional 117 antlers were discovered in the hand luggage of a pedestrian.

In both cases, the items were neither declared in customs documents nor disclosed during oral inspection.

Experts from the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan confirmed that the antlers belong to deer species listed in the country’s Red Book of endangered species.

A preliminary investigation is currently underway.