A decade ago, cross border wildlife crime
in Africa was rife and contributed largely to the decimation of
much treasured wildlife species in the vast yet undiscovered continent.
A plethora of Faunal and Floral species were not spared. Elephants,
rhinos, leopards, apes, reptiles and the illegal harvesting and
plunder of species like the East African Sandalwood (Osyris lanceolata)
and African red cedar (Prunus Africana) have been the bane of
conservationists in the continent.
In its eight years of existence, the Lusaka
Agreement Task Force (LATF) which is based in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi has become a searing thorn in the flesh of wildlife smugglers.
Ever since it was established and with great help from donors,
LATF has had a continuous string of successes in tracking down
wildlife criminals and bursting their illegal operations whilst
obliterating long-established unlawful floral and faunal trade
networks in Africa and even across the globe.
Illegal trafficking of ivory continues unabated
in many parts of Africa despite the international ban on ivory
trade by the Convention of the International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Ivory is frequently encountered
in illegal trade and is a major reason for poaching of the African
elephant, whose numbers are dwindling. The ivory contraband transits
through border entry and exit points where capacities of law enforcement
agencies are inadequate. Absence of scanning and other detection
equipment at some of these points has exacerbated the situation.
Readily available local and international
markets that are highly lucrative have contributed largely to
the increased demand for elephant ivory. A significant number
of seizures have been recorded recently thanks to LATF's under-cover
operations in wildlife crime detection and adoption of new methods
to fight this vice. Most of the elephant ivory is collected from
established wildlife protected areas in remote areas and concealed
in commodities like timber, charcoal, fish, and farm produce (banana,
maize and rice) during transportation, to avoid detection by law
enforcement agencies. This situation is worsened by corruption,
fraud, forgery and mis-declaration on shipping documentation.
In fulfilling its objective, LATF continuously explores new techniques
to curtail the ever increasing sophistication in illegal wildlife
trade. With the generous assistance from the David Shepherd Wildlife
Foundation (DSWF) and other partners, LATF recently acquired state-of-the-art
ivory detectors to be used in tracking and detecting the highly
valued elephant tusks. Coupled with this was the training for
14 officers drawn from LATF and the Lusaka Agreement Party States.
This was then followed by the deployment of detectors to the Parties,
for use in forestalling ivory smuggling. The ivory detector makes
the searching task easier than before.
Officer using the
detector in a practical session
LATF's latest success, courtesy of
DSWF, took place in Chipata, Zambia where LATF officers
working in tandem with the Zambia Wildlife Authority managed
to confiscate some 10 contraband elephant tusks. Working
undercover, a LATF officer penetrated a highly secretive
criminal ring of wealthy ivory dealers, and ingratiated
himself to the mobsters, winning their confidence.
One of the suspects, now under arrest,
is a senior Zambian police officer who has since been indicted.
Not only was ivory recovered but critical intelligence information
and leads were gathered to help the Zambian authorities
in unmasking further the activities of another nefarious
syndicate, which is believed to be smuggling ivory from
Zambia, Southern Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, collecting
it in Malawi before shipping it out to the Far East.
LATF Officer handing
over detectors to Mr. Gerishom Chilukushe Actg. Director
General ZAWA
Elephant tusks recovered
from suspects in Chipata, Zambia while below are some
of the suspects arrested
This is not all.
LATF's most recent success is in Congo
Brazzaville, where a LATF officer exposed a major ivory
smuggling operation which led to the arrest of a kingpin
believed to be the mastermind of poaching activities around
Odzalla National Park in Congo Brazzaville . This action
led to the further disruption of thriving ivory markets
in Pointe Noire, Southern Congo and the capital, Brazzaville.
The success of this came about when LATF's agents infiltrated
yet another hardy network that operates the West African
wildlife smuggling circuit, using Cote de Ivoire, Benin
and Gabon for their transshipment of illicit wildlife to
markets in Asia and Europe.
Some of the ivory seized in Poto-Poto
(Brazzaville) that had cleverly been concealed in
traveling bags
Being the only
regional enforcement agency in the African continent, we are not
sitting on our laurels as we still face a number of challenges
in our ultimate work of eliminating and dismantling wildlife crime
syndicates. The success we have had is due to the support accorded
to us by DSWF and other partners which has gone a long way in
ensuring that our naturally endowed wildlife fortunes are protected
for posterity. We will highly appreciate further support from
DSWF and call upon other partners to emulate this gesture to enable
LATF to effectively cover our expansive operational area.
