Crackdown on ivory smugglers as conservationists warn that wealthy buyers in US and Asia are putting fresh pressure on African herds
Jonathan Watts, guardian.co.uk 20 Jan 10;
Thai police have broken up an ivory smuggling ring spanning three continents as conservationists warn that Asian and US affluence is putting new pressure on elephant herds in Africa.
A Thai national was charged with trafficking today after a 17-month investigation, involving the first collaboration between US and Thai law enforcement authorities. Earlier this week, Thailand's nature crime police also raided ivory shops, seized tusks and arrested two other dealers in the crackdown.
Conservation groups said Samart Chokechoyma was the first suspected trafficker to be arrested in south-east Asia, which has become a hub of the illegal trade that led to the seizure last year of 10 tonnes of African elephant ivory.
Far greater quantities of smuggled ivory go undetected. The contraband is poached from reserves in Kenya and Uganda, shipped out of Entebbe, taken to Thailand for processing and re-sale, then sold to buyers in the US, China, the Middle East and elsewhere.
Chokechoyma was arrested in Bangkok in November, and could now be prosecuted in two countries: in Thailand, he faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted. In the US, the combined jail term for all his counts of smuggling could rise to 53 years.
The two other dealers who were arrested had been caught with six tusks, weighing a total of 32kg, from endangered African elephants. The value of the haul was estimated at US$30,222 (£18,560). Sources close to the operation said this was likely to be a fraction of the overall trade and the kingpins were still to be found.
Undercover customs investigators tracked the suspects by following the source of ivory products sold in the United States back to Asia with support from regional and independent conservation groups.
The first fruits of collaboration were hailed as an important step forward in international efforts to coordinate a crackdown on the trade, which is eating into elephant herds. The next step was to target the leaders of the smuggling chain.
Brad Coulter, the investigation operations officer of Freeland – one of the participating groups - said that, despite the arrests, the trade had now become so lucrative that elephant stocks were under attack. A kilogram of ivory now fetches US$700 in the markets of Thailand.
"Ivory smuggling is on the increase despite counter poaching operations and stiffer penalties," said Coulter. "This is not about trade bans. It's all about money."
