An ivory smuggler was caught in March of 2013. He plead guilty to charges of smuggling 439 pieces of worked ivory through Kenya. He was fined $350.00 and set free.
The 50 year old Chinese man, Tian Yi, was arrested was by a joint security team comprising Kenya Airports Police Unit, Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Airways, and Kenya Wildlife Service at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on a flight between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Hong Kong.
The ivory was hidden in a suitcase; chopped into peices, painted brown and mixed with tree barks in an attempt to pass it off as traditional medicine. While the market value was over $5000 dollars, the man paid a fine of $350.00 and was set free.
We ask Kenya to impose harsher fines for smuggling, and imprisonment. Until smuggling is veiwed as a serious crime, with serious consequences, it will continue, and elephants will continue to be poached and killed. The situation with elephants has become critical- please adjust the laws to reflect that.
SOURCE: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kenya-ivory.html
An ivory smuggler was caught in March of 2013. He plead guilty to charges of smuggling 439 pieces of worked ivory through Kenya. He was fined $350.00 and set free.
The 50 year old Chinese man, Tian Yi, was arrested was by a joint security team comprising Kenya Airports Police Unit, Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Airways, and Kenya Wildlife Service at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on a flight between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Hong Kong.
The ivory was hidden in a suitcase; chopped into peices, painted brown and mixed with tree barks in an attempt to pass it off as traditional medicine. While the market value was over $5000 dollars, the man paid a fine of $350.00 and was set free.
We ask Kenya to impose harsher fines for smuggling, and imprisonment. Until smuggling is veiwed as a serious crime, with serious consequences, it will continue, and elephants will continue to be poached and killed. The situation with elephants has become critical- please adjust the laws to reflect that.
SOURCE: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kenya-ivory.html
