Multi-million dollar jumbo tusks seized

By Mwinyi Sadallah ,The Citizen 

Posted  Thursday, November 14   2013 

In Summary

For about two months before the operation was called off, the police, military and wildlife officials carried out a joint operation against poachers amid a surge of killings of elephants and rhinos.
Zanzibar. A 40-foot container filled with elephant tusks hidden in plastic bags was seized here yesterday. The ivory haul was reported to be destined for China. This development comes just a few days after some 797 tusks were seized in three raids. This means about 400 elephants were slaughtered for their tusks.
Details made available to The Citizen indicate that the container was seized at Malindi Port by police, the Zanzibar Anti-Smuggling Unit and the Tanzania Intelligence Service after a tip-off.
Zanzibar Police Commissioner Musa Ali Musa told The Citizen the tusks were packed in 50-kilogramme plastic bags. To conceal their load, the smugglers packed sea shells in some plastic bags and placed them carefully at the main entrance to the container.
According to Mr Musa, the container was brought to Malindi port ready for export by a clearing and forwarding agent. He declined to name the agent. Police have reportedly launched an investigation to identify the owner of the cargo and the ship that ferried the cargo.
Police in Zanzibar did not give the street value of the consignment, saying an investigation was underway to establish the owners of the seized cargo.
Mr Musa said police and other government officials were unloading the cargo to determine the number of tusks. He added: “All I can tell you is that we have launched investigations, but I can’t go into details such as revealing the name of the agent (clearing and forwarding). In doing so, I might interfere with the investigation process.”
Tourism and Natural Resources Minister Khamis Kagasheki urged those who have information on the smuggling network to come forward and tell the authorities what they know in order to curb the illegal trade.
Zanzibar’s Minister in the President’s office (Special Forces), Mr Haji Omar Omar Kheir, said the Zanzibar government would consult with the Mainland team on the trial of the culprits.
“We don’t have a Natural Resource Act so we will sit with our counterparts on the mainland to decide whether the trials will take place there or in the Isles using the anti-economic sabotage laws,” Mr Kheir added.
The seizure of the container comes a few days after the government suspended the anti-poaching campaign amid reports of human rights violations by officers engaged in the campaign.
For about two months before the operation was called off, the police, military and wildlife officials carried out a joint operation against poachers amid a surge of killings of elephants and rhinos.
Last year, Parliament was told poaching was out of control with an average of 30 elephants being killed for their ivory every day. In August 2011, Tanzanian authorities seized more than 1,000 elephant tusks hidden in sacks of dried fish at Zanzibar port that were destined for Malaysia.
Last year, more than 150 Chinese citizens were arrested across Africa—from Kenya to Nigeria—for smuggling ivory. There is growing evidence that poaching rises in elephant-rich areas where Chinese construction workers are building roads.
Most of the illegal ivory—experts say as much as 70 percent—is destined for China. The Chinese have coveted ivory for centuries but never before have so many of them been able to afford it. China’s economic boom has created a vast middle class, pushing the price of ivory to a stratospheric $1,000 per pound on the streets of Beijing.