Three suspects found with four pieces of elephant tusks worth over Sh2 million have been arrested in Narok.

 

Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Mohamed Amin said in a statement the trio was arrested following a joint operation by DCI’s Serious Crime Unit detectives and local police.

 

He said the suspects were arrested in the Kisiriri area in Narok North.

 

“The tusks weighing 27kg with an estimated street value of Sh2.7 million were found in their possession. The three have been locked up in cells pending arraignment,” Amin said.

 

He said they would be charged under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013.

 

Section 92(4) of the Act prohibits the Possession of Wildlife Trophies of Endangered Species.

 

The arrest and seizure is the latest in an ongoing war against poaching and comes just three weeks after three other suspects were arrested at Kapsokwony market in Elgeyo Marakwet with Elephant tusks worth Sh3.5 million.

 

Police said the men were using a motorcycle to ferry the trophies when a team of Kenya Wildlife Service rangers and police pounced on them.

 

They had concealed the ivory inside a sack of potatoes.

 

In November 2023, four suspects were also arrested in separate incidents and Elephant tusks worth Sh13 million recovered.

 

During the first arrest on November 14, 2023, two men were arrested in Maralal, Samburu county, while trafficking 36 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 77 kilogrammes valued at Sh12 million.

 

Police said the 36 pieces of ivory were recovered after a search of the car they were using was flagged down on the Maralal-Kisima Road at about 9 am.

 

On November 22, 2023, two other suspects were arrested in Lodwar, Turkana, while trying to sell three pieces of elephant tusks valued at Sh1 million.

 

The men were carrying the tusks weighing about 9.8 kilograms when they were intercepted by police and officers from the Kenya Wildlife Service while transporting the cache on a motorcycle.

 

On December 6, two other suspected poachers were arrested and six pieces of elephant tusks were recovered in an operation in Maralal, Samburu.

 

Elephant tusks fetch a fortune in the black market and a surge in demand for ivory in the East continues to fuel poaching in the region.

 

Poaching has continued to plague the country despite stringent measures in place to address the menace.

 

In July 2023, two herders accused of illegally possessing elephant tusks worth Sh2 million were given stringent bond terms of Sh1 million each after being charged in Mombasa.