
SEEJ-AFRICA: Last five trafficking incidents involving police officers (allegedly):
- Hillary Cheruiyot Kipkurui and one other arrested with 10 pieces weighing 89 kg on May 12th, 2024.
- Benedict Charles Mwenda and one other arrested in Nairobi area with six pieces of ivory weighing 64.5 kg on January 12th, 2024.
- Police officer (not charged at this time) based at the Shimoni police station and registered owner of seized vehicle and in relationship with one of the two accused women, Tima Omar Suya and Bahatisha Juma Said, found with 5 pieces of ivory weighing 112 kg on January 6th, 2024.
- Harrison Gitonga Kanake arrested with one other arrested in Meru area with 23 pieces weighing 79.6 kg on August 12th, 2023.
- Francis Muyambi M’imaana arrested in the Meru area with two tusks weighing 22 kg on January 28th, 2023.

Two men arrested with 10 elephant tusks worth Sh8.9 million
Allan Kisia, The Star
May 13, 2024
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers have arrested two men with 10 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 89 kilogrammes valued at Sh8.9 million.
The officers from Mwingi, accompanied by a KWS covert team from the headquarters in Nairobi were acting on intelligence information. The officers intercepted the vehicle the two were in at around 1 pm. KWS said one of the suspects, who was driving the vehicle, was an officer with a government agency.
“The exhibit is detained at KWS, Mwingi office and the suspects are detained at Mwingi police station pending arraignment before Mwingi law court,” the police report said.
On January 16, 2024, A police officer and a civilian were arrested while trying to sell 64.5 kilos of elephant tusks in the Eastleigh area, Nairobi. The tusks would fetch about Sh60 million in the black market. They had tried to sell the trophies to Kenya Wildlife Service officials who had posed as potential buyers.
Ten days earlier, two women were last week arrested with five pieces of elephant tusks that weighed 111 kilos and were valued at Sh11 million in a village in Kwale county. They were nabbed with the trophies on January 6, 2024, at around 9 am in the Majoreni area of Lungalunga sub-county within Kwale. This happened as they sought a market for the trophies and approached undercover officials.
They were charged before a Msambweni court for dealing in a wildlife trophy of an endangered species………….
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Police officer among those arrested with elephant tusks worth KSh8.9M – TV47 Digital
May 15, 2024
Two suspects, including a police officer, have been arrested for illegal possession of wildlife trophies, a serious offense under Kenyan law, in Mwingi, Kitui County.
Hillary Cheruiyot Kipkurui, a police officer attached to CIPU Tseikuru, and Geoffrey Muli were arrested last Sunday (May 12) by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers who received a tip off on the illegal activity.
A report filed at Mwingi Police Station indicates that the two were using a Toyota Probox, registration number KDP 694G, to ferry the 10 pieces of elephant tusks. They were arrested at around 1 pm.
The tusks were weighing 89Kg and valued at KSh8,900,000.
The exhibit has been detained at KWS– Mwingi office while the suspects are detained at Mwingi Police Station.
What the law says
According to Section 95 of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act of the Kenyan law, the two suspects now risk spending five years in jail or pay a fine of KSh1 million, or both.
The act states: “Any person who keeps or is found in possession of a wildlife trophy or deals in a wildlife trophy, or manufactures any item from a trophy without a permit issued under this Act or exempted in accordance with any other provision of this Act, commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine of not less than one million shillings or imprisonment for a term of not less than five years or to both such imprisonment and fine.’’
