Security officials have arrested two suspects transporting elephant tusks in a village in Gongoni, Magarini, Kilifi County.
The two men were riding on a motorcycle on
March 24, 2025, when they were intercepted by Kenya Wildlife Service personnel
in the Marikebuni area.
They had concealed a green sack on the said
motorcycle, officials said. The traffickers were to take the cargo to a
potential buyer in the area.
Upon conducting a thorough search, the
officials recovered a 10-kilogram ivory tusk with a street value of Sh1
million.
The suspects were arrested and escorted to the
station pending arraignment, and the motorcycle and the ivory tusk were kept as
evidence.
Officials believe the tusk was recovered from
a killed elephant in the area. An investigation is ongoing to get more
information on the same.
Police said they would be charged with the
offence of being in Possession of Wildlife Trophies of Endangered Species
Contrary to Section 92(4) of the Wildlife Conservation Management Act 2013.
The seizure comes despite stringent measures in place to address the menace of
poaching in the country and region.
Elephant tusks fetch a fortune in the black
market as a surge in demand for ivory in the Middle East continues to fuel the illicit
trade in elephant tusks, especially from Africa.
The illegal ivory trade is mostly fuelled by demand in Asia and the Middle East, where elephant tusks and rhino horns are used to make ornaments and traditional medicines.
Officials say that despite a ban on the international trade in ivory, African elephants are still being poached in large numbers.
As part of efforts to stop the menace, Kenya has started using high-tech surveillance equipment, including drones, to track poachers and keep tabs on elephants and rhinos.
KWS and stakeholders have put in place mechanisms to eradicate all forms of wildlife crime, particularly poaching.
These mechanisms include enhanced community education, interagency collaboration, and intensive intelligence-led operations, among others.
These efforts led to zero rhino poaching in Kenya in 2020-the first time in about two decades.
On April 30, 2016, Kenya set ablaze 105 tones of elephant ivory and 1.35 tones of rhino horn.
Parliament has also passed strict anti-poaching laws, and the government has beefed up security at parks to stop poaching, which threatens the vital tourism industry.
Kenya has also emerged as a major transit route for ivory destined for Asian markets from eastern and central Africa, investigations show.
