Man arrested with illegal ivory trophies in Ganjoni, Mombasa
Some of the ivory trophies recovered in Mombasa on August 8, 2014 by KWS officials. A man who was found with the items was arrested and is helping police with investigations. PHOTO | LABAN WALLOGA
What you need to know:
- The man was arrested as he was trading the trophies in Ganjoni.
- The items which were ready for the market were valued at more than Sh1 million.
- Poachers and dealers are changing tact by peddling in finished ivory products in order to evade security checks.
- KWS and other law enforcement agencies have heightened surveillance across the country in the wake of increased poaching.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials in Mombasa have arrested a man suspected to be peddling illegal wildlife trophies.
Senior Warden, Coast Conservation Area Mr Adan Kala, while addressing the press at the KWS offices, said they arrested the man as he was trading the trophies in Ganjoni.
“Members of the public informed us of the suspect’s activities and we managed to arrest him. We recovered the ivory trophies which are finished products. They included 68 pieces of Chinese chop sticks, 12 necklaces, nine finger rings and ivory carvings,” Mr Adan said.
He said the items which were ready for the market were estimated to valued at more than Sh1 million.
Mr Adan said that poachers and dealers are changing tact by peddling in finished ivory products in order to evade security checks. This, he said, appeared to be the emerging trend.
“This is a very different scenario. The illegal trade in wildlife products is changing,” he added.
He noted that this was a worrying challenge and cautioned members of the public not to fall victims by buying illegal wildlife trophies.
“Members of the public should be very much aware of whatever they are buying on the streets. You can easily fall into the trap. Some of these things are very difficult to suspect,” Mr Adan said.
INVESTIGATIONS
He said they were still carrying out investigations with the help of the suspect in order to unearth the tycoons behind the illegal trade.
“We have not yet established the real people behind this but we believe the investigations we are carrying out with the help of the suspect will be helpful.
"It is just a matter of time before we get a breakthrough on the tycoons behind this trade in Kenya and across the whole of East Africa,” he affirmed.
In June, a joint operation by the Police and KWS officials seized an ivory haul comprising of 228 pieces of uncut tusks hidden in a warehouse in Tudor, Mombasa County. Some 74 pieces of cut ivory were also recovered.
KWS and other law enforcement agencies have heightened surveillance across the country in the wake of increased poaching and smuggling ivory in recent times.
Ninety seven elephants and twenty rhinos have been reported killed by poachers since the beginning of 2014 down from 302 elephants and 59 rhinos respectively in year 2013.
