13th December, 2019
Kenyan officers on Friday reported that two suspects had been nabbed with ten pieces of ivory weighing 73 kilograms, valued at 7.3 million shillings (73,000 U.S. dollars) in Samburu village, Kwale.
The two, Charles Mweni, 32, and Tabitha Mueni 43 were arrested by Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers on Thursday.
The operation was conducted by the DCI detectives working in collaboration with Kenya Wildlife Service rangers from Mombasa and Kenya Police from Taru Police Station.
Coast KWS Conservation Area Assistant Director Arthur Tuda told Xinhua that “we arrested them after a tip-off from members of public and they are being held at Taru Police Station as we speak.’’
He said that the officers posed as buyers before pouncing on the suspects.
“If the public continues being vigilant like this we will end the poaching menace and save our elephants,’’ he added.
KWS officials say the elephants could have been killed in the nearby Tsavo National Park.
The arrests are latest in a series of seizures made in 2019 by the anti-poaching officers.
In July, police canine unit sniffed out 35 pieces of ivory tusks worth 180,000 dollars at Makombeni village, Kilifi County leading to arrests of two suspects.
In May, officers nabbed 8 pieces of ivory weighing 8 kilograms concealed in a sack of maize and arrested two suspects.
According to international investigating agencies, Mombasa port, the largest port in East Africa, is used as a transit route by smugglers of illegal animal parts.