Feng Jinzhang, 50 was arrested as he
tried to smuggle ivory while on transit aboard a flight KQ 542 from Contonou,
Benin to Guangzhou, China, late Sunday night.
Jinzhang was arrested by a joint
security team comprising of the Kenya Airports Police Unit, Customs officials,
Kenya Airways officials and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials.
The suspect was booked at the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport police station awaiting arraignment in court to
answer to charges of smuggling, through Kenyan territory, four pieces of ivory
bangles.
His arrest comes with at the backdrop
of the ongoing 16th Conference of the Parties (CoP) by Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
meeting at Bangkok, Thailand.
The meeting posthumously honoured 13
KWS rangers who died in the line of duty, and nine other recipients from around
the world, with a Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award.
A Kenyan delegation, headed by Mr.
Stephen Manegene from Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, is lobbying state
parties to, among others, to ensure no proposals to trade in elephant ivory can
be submitted before expiry of a nine years moratorium agreed at CoP14 in The
Hague in 2007.
Over the weekend KWS rangers and the
Kenya Police arrested a poachin gang after a fierce gub fight at Bisan
Hargeisa, near Mwingi town, Kitui County.
They managed to impound 21 pieces of
raw ivory weighing 91kg, and a motorbike. A further search in the surrounding
areas by a reinforcement team from Kora National Park and the police recovered
seven more pieces of ivory weighing 30.6kg.
The team acted on a tip off from
members of the public and the suspects who resisted being search which led to
the gun fight.
No ranger was hurt during the incident.
Manuel Odeny, ©2013
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