Kenyan authorities have arrested five ivory smugglers holding Vietnamese passports as the East African nation stepped up anti-poaching measures.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the five suspects were arrested on Tuesday night at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while on transit from Luanda, Angola to Bangkok, Thailand, aboard a Kenya Airways flight KQ771.

KWS said Vu-Thi-Dung, 30, Nguyen Quan Vinh, 52, Nguyen Thi Thao, 30, Le Thi Thur, 33, and Pham Ngoc Thanh, 40, were arrested while being in possession of assorted worked ivory including three pendants, eight bangles and three necklaces.

"They were detected and seized by a joint security team comprising of the Kenya Airports Police Unit, Customs officials, Kenya Airways officials and KWS," the statement said.

The KWS announcement comes in the wake of Jan. 15's seizure of 638 pieces of ivory worth 1.16 million U.S. dollars at the port of Mombasa which were destined for Indonesia from Tanzania while disguised as ornamental stones.

Rampant poaching is continuing 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 10 tonnes of raw and worked ivory.

The KWS has expressed fears that the scenes of the 1970s and the 1980s when poaching was a serious menace, and contributed to the depletion of wildlife including elephants, lions and rhinos are back, are threatening many years of conservation efforts and animal populations that had started to balloon.

Government statistics indicate that in 2012, Kenya lost 384 elephants and 19 rhinos to trophy poachers compared to 289 elephants and 29 rhinos in the previous year.

According to the wildlife agency, Kenya lost four rangers in 2012 as poachers are now using sophisticated equipment and are prepared to go to any length to continue with their illegal trade.

The conservationists have also decried the entry of organized crime syndicates into the illegal wildlife trade, most notably of rhino horn and elephant ivory, which they said, has created a crisis situation in many African countries.

The wildlife authority is looking for an interpreter to help in the prosecution of the suspected Vietnamese ivory smugglers.

A Nairobi magistrate has ordered that suspected ivory smugglers holding Vietnamese passports to remain in police custody until an interpreter is found to aid in their prosecution.

The East African nation remains an important link on trade routes to international destinations for illicit consignments of wildlife products and particularly ivory due to her vibrant ports of Jomo Kenyatta airport and Mombasa sea port. Endi

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)