2 Arrested For Ivory Trafficking

The two, one of them a Ugandan were arrested while transporting the tusks aboard a car with Ugandan number plates.

Eldoret-West police Boss Ndung’u Waikonya said that 31 tusks believed to be on transit to Uganda were seized

“Once the investigations are complete, the culprits will be arraigned in court,” Waikonya said.

This comes just four days after a Chinese national was arrested as he tried to board a China-bound Kenya Airways flight at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) with 0.68 kg of ivory.

He was coming from Maputo, Mozambique.

Parliament has passed stringent laws that increases penalties for killing tourist-attracting safari animals.

According to Kenya Wildlife Service, the laws have started bearing fruits.

Last month, another Chinese who pleaded guilty to trafficking in ivory was fined Sh20 million or serve seven years in jail.

Tang Yong Jian, 40, was arrested while carrying an elephant ivory tusk weighing 3.4 kg in a suitcase.

The new law came into effect on January 10, 2014.

The Kenya Wildlife Service had been lobbying for this new law for years.

By Beth Nyaga