Two foreigners arrested over ivory bracelets
Dar es Salaam. A woman travelling from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after she was caught wearing an ivory bangle, Kenyan officials said yesterday.
The Spaniard, Ms Maria Pich-Aguilera, 50, was arrested on Sunday evening and faces a fine $9,800 (about Sh22.5 million) or 12 months in prison for illegal possession of ivory. She has become the second foreigner in a week to be arrested for the same reason at Kenya’s international airport.
The Kenya Wildlife Service(KWS) said in a statement she was “arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with an ivory bangle,” while travelling from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam. Last week a Frenchwoman was arrested at the airport on her way from France to Mayotte for possession of an ivory bracelet. She pleaded guilty and paid the $9,800 fine.
“We noticed this new trend where ivory is smuggled through worked or processed bangles and we have increased surveillance,” said an investigator speaking on condition of anonymity. A KWS official, also asking not to be named, said that trafficking included “ornaments made out of ivory”.
“It may be legal in other countries but here it is not. That is why you always hear a call to stop ivory trade all over the world because any small or big demand anywhere pushes poachers to meet the demands.” Global trade in elephant ivory has largely been outlawed since 1989 after the animal’s numbers plunged in the mid-20th century. The African Elephant Database estimates that by 2015, fewer than 415,000 of the giant mammals remained on the continent.
Thousands of conservationists and policymakers from more than 180 countries are currently meeting in Geneva to tighten rules on trade in elephant ivory and products from other endangered animal and plants. The plight of African elephants is expected to dominate the discussions.
