Kenyan police on Thursday impounded 228 full ivory tusks and 74 cut pieces of tusks weighing over three tons at a warehouse in Mombasa, said Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) deputy spokesman Paul Muya.
To make the matter more worse, Six Kenya AP's have refused a Five Million (5M) Kenya Shillings (Approx USD 60,000) as kickbacks for the arrest of those Ivories. The six AP officers
who refused Ksh 5M bribe for the over 200 tusks are:
1. Inspector Ahmed Gabow (team leader)
2. Sergent Hassan Mohamed,
3. Sergent Cyrus Mwakio,
4. Constable Ali Abdi Gedi,
5. Constable Miraj Ali and
6. Constable Kasim Bakari, some seen on the picture above.
Mombasa
county commissioner Nelson Marwa told journalists in Mombasa
that the consignment was seized in the wee hours of Thursday at
a warehouse awaiting shipment through the port of Mombasa.
“This is a major breakthrough on war against poaching. We are investigating and hunting for more suspects behind this syndicate, “ Marwa said.
Marwa
said the ivory pieces are believed to be part of latest
smuggling ivory in the country.
Mombasa
police chief Geoffrey Mayek said they are interrogating one
suspect, identified as Sadiq Abdul Alim, a Kenyan manager
working at the yard.
“The police and Kenya Wildlife Service officers have launched investigations to establish the source of the ivory and its owners, “ Mayek told Xinhua in Mombasa.
He
said police believe the ivory proceeds are being used to finance
radicalization and terrorism activities in the coastal region.
KWS
director coast region Arthur Tuda said they suspected the ivory
was hacked from more than 100 elephants from Tsavo National Park
and other neighboring national parks.
“From the colorization and sizes of ivory its clear most of the elephants are from Tanzania and Congo. They were waiting to be shipped out of the country. It’s a recommendable job,” Tuda said.
The
seizure of illegal ivory from Kenya continues despite KWS
introducing the canine unit with sniffer dogs on a 24-hour basis
at the Jomo Kenyatta in Nairobi and Moi International Airport in
Mombasa to detect movements of illegal ivory.
The
unit has since 2009 netted more than eight tons of raw and
worked ivory.
This,
according to the wildlife agency, has effectively led to reduced
smuggling of illegal trophies. Plans are at an advanced stage by
KWS to also introduce sniffer dogs at the Eldoret International
Airport as well as other exit and entry points.
The
elephant horns are sawn off and ground into a powder which is
taken as a curative in most countries in Asia, despite no
scientific evidence of medicinal properties.
KWS
says the poaching situation calls for a united approach that
will not only facilitate the capture of those involved in
wildlife crime, but also enhance prosecution of the illegal
killing and trafficking of wildlife.
Wildlife
crime and related illegal trade is now globally ranked as one of
the most serious international crimes.
Recent
reports from wildlife conservationists indicated that proceeds
of wildlife crime are also used to finance other international
crimes including proliferation of illegal firearms, human
trafficking and terrorism cartels of which no country or agency
can single-handedly manage.
Kenya’s
tourism industry depends on its wildlife resources and beach
destinations and conservationists have blamed the continued
poaching on the ready markets for the criminal networks that
harvest the merchandise.
But where are the fate of the AP's who did this work?
