KAGASHEKI WITNESSE THE HAUL OF IVORY IMPOUNDED BY THE POLICE, THREE CHINESE NATIONALS ARE IN CUSTODY IN CONNECTION WITH MORE THAN1,800 KG OF TROPHIES
Natural Resources
and Tourism minister, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, in disbelief as he looks at
a pile of elephant trophies impounded at a Mikocheni house in Dar es Salaam,
Saturday Nov 2, 2013. Three Chinese
nationals Huang Qin, Chen Jinzhan and Xu Fujie are in custody in connection
with more than 1,800 kg of trophies
Minister Kagasheki,
visits inside the residential house used as a were house to hide natural
resources at Mikocheni in Dar es Salaam, Saturday Nov 2, 2013
Armed plain police
officer, stand guard outside Mikocheni house in Dar es Salaam late on Saturday,
where more than 1,800 kgs of ivory were impounded by the police
At a time when poaching has
tremendously scaled up in the country, about 706 pieces of ivory, representing
more than 200 tuskers killed, were found yesterday in Dar es Salam Mkocheni
area at a residence of Chinese nationals.
The incredulous catch was
hidden in a manner that needed informed intelligence to uncover as shells of
snails mixed with garlic to fool any suspicious minds sniffing about the ivory.
Even the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Khamis Kagasheki, and
police officers at the scene were so stunned with the ingenuity of the
residents, evidently agents of Far East ivory traders.
A detailed report made
available to the Guardian on Sunday in past months says China is deeply
implicated in the wave of killing of elephants owing to its million dollar
trade in ivory products. The report
authored by the Tanzania Elephant Protection Society (TEPS) said rising
economic relations between China and Tanzania fuel elephant killings in the
country, calling for proper
government intervention.
The document underlined
that though the Chinese investments were important in the country’s economy and
development, this shouldn’t compromise the country’s natural wildlife
conservation efforts.
The report affirmed that at
the current rate of 30 elephants killed every day and 850 elephants shot every
month, there is an unprecedented risk of the country’s elephant population
perishing in the next seven years.
“China is the number one
investor in Tanzania … but the majority of tusks exported illegally from Tanzania
end up in China due to the huge demand for ivory in China,” it said, noting that Tanzania’s partnership
with China risks being at the expense of Tanzania’s vital natural resources and
the tourist industry,
This requires political
will and strong leadership to resolve, it said, recommending that the Tanzania
government “should make investment from China and other countries strictly
conditional on China tackling its demand for ivory at home, and stronger law
enforcement collaboration to halt the flow of ivory from Tanzania to China.”
Three Chinese, Che Jinzhan,
Xu Fujie and Huang Qin, are said to use a special Noah microbus with
registration number T713 BXG to transport the ivory pieces to the house.
Until this paper left the
house more than 1800 kilogram of ivory pieces were found, although the police
were not yet finished with counting.
Inside the house police
found a weighing unit that the Chinese used in their illegal business, a number
of fresh garlic onions and sacks of shells which were mixed with the ivory
during transportation.
Interviewed, the Chinese
said that the ivory business is owned by their friends and what they were doing
was only the garlic business.
Huang Qin explaining that
his friends are the one who used to bring the ivory in their home. He admitted
that it is illegal business and if it was in their country they would be
executed.
The bus that used to bring
the product in the house uses different numbers whereby during a day the used
plate number is T713 BXG but at night the number is twisted with plate number T
317 BXG.
According to the
information released from the ivory storehouse, the minibus is used to conduct
the operation at midnight, specifically from 1:00 am.
Briefing the media at the
event, minister Kagasheki said they managed to find the ivory as a follow up to
Operation Tokomeza against gangs hunting elephants with automatic rifles, all
over the country.
Ambassador Kagasheki said
the fight against poachers will not be achieved by suspending public officials
but by joining efforts with all stakeholders, including MPs to fight the
scourge.
The ivory pieces found
yesterday represent a big amount as elephants are steadily diminished, he said,
underlining that stopping Operation Tokomeza as MPs are proposing would see
elephants cleared out from game parks in a few years.
More than 30 million
shillings owned by the arrested Chinese nationals was intended to bribe the
corps, according to police sources at the scene
This is a makeshift
house used to cover the real house used by the Chinese to hide national'
resources at Mikocheni in Dar es Salaam
