KENYA: Interpol crackdown sees arrest of 57 poachers in five African countries

Record ID: 360976

  • Title: KENYA: Interpol crackdown sees arrest of 57 poachers in five African countries
  • Date: 17th November 2008
  • Summary: (AD1) TSAVO, KENYA (FILE) (REUTERS) KENYA WILDLIFE RANGERS DIGGING UP BURIED IVORY TUSKS VARIOUS AERIAL SHOTS OF POACHED ELEPHANTS.
  • Embargoed: 2nd December 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVADPTDYZNTTSSOYT6BGL8D2UHY6
  • Story Text: Africa's largest-ever Interpol undercover operation against wildlife crime leads to the arrest of 57 suspected poachers in five countries.
    57 suspected poachers have been arrested and 1,000 kilograms of ivory seized by Interpol during a four months operation carried out in five African nations.
    The operation was code-named ' Project Baba' in honour of Gilbert Baba, a Ghanaian ranger who was killed a decade ago by poachers.
    Apart from the arrest, heightened surveillance at airports, border-crossing and traditional smuggling points in the region led to the confiscation of cheetah, leopard, and several other cat and python skins valued at tens of thousands of US dollars.

    "At the close of business yesterday, they were 57 persons in custody for a variety of offences. Four more are being sought for actively as fugitives. You have seen some of the exhibits here today, but I can tell you at the moment that over one thousand kilograms of ivory was recovered, both raw ivory, worked ivory and what we believe is ivory powder and there have been other seizures of skin and other items and of course it generates a lot of information which will be ongoing as part of further investigations as a result of this," said Peter Young, Interpol's Wildlife Programme Manager.
    Operation Baba was initially a response to pleas by African states trying to protect their elephant populations. Younger says operations like this help Interpol break up other kinds of criminal syndicates.

    "What we also see are the links between wildlife crime in Africa and organized crime generally in a global sense. Wildlife crime flows effortlessly into narcotics trafficking, corruption, violence, money laundering, trafficking in human beings. We see the connection across all of these fields in crime. It's the same criminals committing crimes for the samewhich is to make money today it might be elephant ivory, tomorrow it might be cocaine," he said.
    Kenya served as the co-ordination centre for the simultaneous operation in Congo Brazzaville, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia.
    Peter Leitoro, deputy director of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), says 36 suspected ivory dealers and 113 pieces of ivory weighing 358 kilograms were seized in Kenya during the crackdown.

    "If you compare the yesteryears and I'm talking about of 2007, 2006 trends as compared to 2008, what we are seeing now is an increased trend, it's an increased trend and I think that is the position, but there are mechanisms and I think the Interpol operations, the Lusaka Agreement operations and all the other countries' operations. I think it's actually then sort of directed so as to address that challenge," said Leitoro.
    Interpol, various governmental and non-governmental agencies around the world estimate that the global criminal wildlife trade is in excess of 20 billion US dollars.
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