Mr Heinz Widmer, chief of customs at Zurich Airport, shows confiscated ivory on Tuesday. The elephant tusks had been sawn into 172 pieces, and were being transported from Dar es Salaam to Beijing via Zurich. PHOTO | AFP
Dar es Salaam/Geneva. The government has
launched an investigation to establish how 262 kilogrammes of ivory
worth $413,000 (Sh826 million) were smuggled out through Julius Nyerere
International Airport (JNIA) last month.
Natural
Resources and Tourism minister Lazaro Nyalandu said in a statement
yesterday that the investigation was being jointly carried out by the
ministry he is in charge of, Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA) and
security agencies.
He said the probe was aimed at
identifying those who facilitated the smuggling of the haul so that
“appropriate” measures could be taken against them, and urged anyone
with information that could be of help in the investigation to volunteer
it.
Mr Nyalandu added that interception of the ivory
and a kilogramme of lion teeth and claws showed that poaching was still a
big problem in Tanzania despite the government’s efforts to stamp it
out.
The ivory was seized at Zurich Airport in Switzerland on July 6 on its way from Dar es Salaam to China.
TAA
Legal Secretary Ramadhan Maleta told The Citizen earlier yesterday that
airport security officials had teamed up with other investigative
agencies to establish how the haul passed through JNIA undetected.
“I’m
upcountry but I am aware of the issue and relevant authorities have
already started to investigate the matter,” said Mr Maleta when reached
by telephone, adding: “I will get back to you as soon as I get
feedback.”
TAA Public Relations Officer Godfrey Lutego
also wondered how such a large haul could pass through state-of-the-art
airport security equipment unnoticed.
“The airport has
state-of-the-art scanning gadgets to detect unauthorised cargo,
including ivory and drugs,” said Mr Lutego, adding: “The scanners can
even detect traces of a narcotic on the hands of a person who has shaken
hands with a trafficker ferrying drugs.”
The French
news agency AFP reported on Tuesday that the 262 kilogrammes (577
pounds) of ivory had been chopped up and stashed in eight suitcases,
along with around a kilo of lion teeth and claws.
The
suitcases, registered to three Chinese citizens, were intercepted at
Zurich Airport on July 6 during a routine control of tourists arriving
from Dar es Salaam.
“In light of the offences committed
by the three men against customs law and species conservation efforts,
they can expect to receive steep fines,” said a statement by Swiss
authorities.
Contacted for comment on Tuesday, the
Director of Wildlife in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism,
Mr Herman Keraryo, said the government was contacting authorities in
Zurich for more details.
Mr Heinz Widmer, chief of customs at Zurich Airport, said it was estimated that the ivory came from between 40 and 50 elephants.
Mr
Gustav Babile, Tanzania’s Chief of Interpol National Central Bureau,
said his office was liaising with Interpol in Zurich on the seizure of
the ivory.
A wildlife expert told The Citizen that the Chinese opted to ferry the ivory through Zurich hoping that there was lax security.
“If
there is an airport known for strict screening it is Zurich Airport and
the ivory might have been detected by scanners,” said the expert who
preferred to remain anonymous.
He said the Chinese might have bribed some officials at JNIA.
“There is no other explanation why such a big quantity of ivory could have been smuggled through the airport,” he added.
The
United Nations last week voted to work harder to combat the poaching of
endangered species, and expressed concern over what it called a steady
rise in the level of rhino poaching and alarmingly high levels of
killings of elephants in Africa.
There are now an
estimated 470,000 African elephants living in the wild, compared to
550,000 in 2006, said the NGO Elephants Without Borders.
China
meanwhile accounts for 70 percent of world demand for ivory, NGOs say.
They say Chinese hunger for ivory is responsible for the death of 30,000
African elephants each year.
Last year, President
Jakaya Kikwete said he was not happy with the state of security at key
airports in the country, adding that he was particularly concerned about
the continued use of Julius Nyerere and Kilimanjaro international
airports as conduits for drug trafficking.
President
Kikwete was speaking in Dar es Salaam during the laying of the
foundation stone for the construction of JNIA Terminal Three, which was
expected to significantly expand the capacity of Tanzania’s biggest and
busiest airport.
He expressed his disgust at how easily drug kingpins were using local airports.
In
August 2013, the United Kingdom Department of Transport handed over
state-of-the-art aviation security equipment to tighten security at the
JNIA.
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