Efforts to End Ivory Smuggling Increase
Recent Arrests a Sign of Progress
On December 3, 2008, a two year investigation culminated when U.S. federal agents arrested six suspects in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Texas. The suspects were charged with conspiracy to smuggle ivory into the United States, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Importing ivory to the United States was criminalized in 1976; and the United States is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. These individuals are believed to have routinely smuggled ivory out of Uganda, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon. The ivory was then brought into the U.S. through New York´s Kennedy Airport. Once it made it through customs (usually disguised as traditional African art) the ivory was then sold to dealers throughout the country.
African Action
African efforts to end elephant poaching and ivory smuggling have also steadily increased in recent years. For example, The Lusaka Agreement on Cooperative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora came into force on December 10, 1996. Currently, there are six parties to the agreement: Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Lesotho; with South Africa, Ethiopia and Swaziland as signatories. The Lusaka Agreement Task Force was then created as a permanent law enforcement institution designed to facilitate cooperation between these states for investigating and ultimately ending the illegal trade in wild flora and fauna.
In November, 2008, Africa's largest international criminal investigation into ivory smuggling, which spanned five countries, culminated with the arrest of 57 suspected dealers and the confiscation of about 1,000 kilograms of powdered, carved, and raw ivory products. The operation, based in Kenya, involved the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, 300 police officers, and the cooperation of various national customs, wildlife, and intelligence agencies. Among those arrested were four Chinese nationals attempting to smuggle ivory curios out of Kenya. Bradley Martin, an independent expert, told National Geographic that: “Poachers are totally expendable…There is so much poverty that if you take one guy another guy is going to move in. The main thing to do is to knock out the buyers and the middlemen”.
Academic Research
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a reliable method for tracking seized ivory back to its original source through DNA analysis. They have been counting on the further development and use of this procedure to shed light on the severity of the problem. Dr. Sam Wasser told UW´s “The Daily” that in 2005 the global ivory trade skyrocketed from what it had been in previous years. He further added that: “The amount of elephants killed that year was 38,000, which meant that about 250,000 kilos of ivory was smuggled”. Dr. Wasser partly blames the recent increase in ivory smuggling to higher prices and a lack of prosecution for the transportation and purchase of ivory. Some international observers believe that the recent arrests in the United States and Africa are positive signs of a revitalized global effort to end the illegal killing of elephants, and the underground ivory business responsible for their deaths.
Men with Elephant Tusks, Dar es Salaam
|
What do you think about this article?
More in Politics & Society
Latest Articles