Illegal ivory shipped from Mombasa intercepted in Sri Lanka

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Authorities at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport count ivory at a past ivory confiscation at the airport on transit before being seized.

Kenya Wildlife Service would like to confirm the seizure of three containers with ivory which had been shipped from the Mombasa Seaport. Preliminary investigations indicates that a forth container, whose contents are yet to be verified, is being held by Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) at the Kilindini Port. Two of the three containers seized on Tuesday (May 15, 2012) at Colombo Port in Sri Lanka had entered the country through Malaba border point on the Kenya-Uganda border. According to the shipment details, the third container originated from Nairobi. The three containers were headed for various destinations, including India, United Arab Emirates and Guatemala.

The three containers had been declared as containing plastic scrap, plastic punnets and teak logs, respectively. KWS provided the initial information on the suspect containers to the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF) regional intergovernmental wildlife enforcement agency. The agency in turn shared the information with its international law enforcement partners which led to the seizure of the three containers at the Sri Lankan main sea port. A joint team comprising KWS, KRA, Kenya Police and LATF is investigating the matter.