Detectives in Kabarnet arrested three suspects on Monday, February 1 night who had ivory in their possession. Among those arrested was Senior sergeant Charles Kandagor Kipkulei, who is attached at the Rift Valley Regional Police Headquarters.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) got wind of the illegal possession via a call made to their anonymous toll-free number. They captured the three suspects as they drove towards Oinobmoi from Barwessa in Baringo county.
Seven pieces of ivory that weigh 51 kilograms were seized from them. They were transporting them in two separate cars.
Police launched investigations into the matter and also detained the suspects at the Kabarnet Police Station.
On Monday, January 25, Mansur Mohamed Surur, a suspected poahcer, was extradited from Kenya to the US. According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, Surur was arrested by Kenyan authorities on July 29, 2020.
He was charged with conspiracy to traffic rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, and illegal poaching of more than 35 rhinoceros and 100 elephants.
“Mansur Mohamed Surur is alleged to be a member of an international conspiracy to traffic in rhino horns, elephant ivory, and heroin. The enterprise is allegedly responsible for the illegal slaughter of dozens of rhinos and more than 100 elephants, both endangered species.
“The excellent work of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the DEA has put an end to this operation,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said.
In July 2020, an Administration Police (AP) officer was also accosted in Trans Nzoia County while trying to sell a piece of an elephant tusk worth Ksh 800,000 to Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers who had posed as buyers.
Simon Otieno, based at Endebess was nabbed alongside two other individuals identified as Wycliffe Kiboi Ndiema and Solomon Kibet Simotwa.
According to a government statement, 46 rhinos were poached between April 2019 and late February 2020. A survey by the KWS, elephant and rhino poaching, however, disclosed that poaching reduced by 90% over the last seven years. The report revealed a steady decline in cases of poaching between 2012 and 2018, with documented elephant poaching incidents declining from 384 to 38 in the period of study.
