Vietnamese Ivory Trafficker Arrested in Ivory Coast
Vietnamese trafficker arrested with loads of Ivory |
On January 18, 2018, a Vietnamese man was arrested in
Abidjan along with five other members of a criminal network that had been
operating for several years in at least seven different countries. The EAGLE
network and the Ivorian government began coordinating the operation "Ivory
Stops in Ivory Coast", that targets this international network of ivory
trafficking. The leader of the gang, a Vietnamese, was arrested along with five
other members of his network and arrests led to the confiscation of 578 kg of
ivory, more than half a ton of pangolin scales, some of which had already been
packaged and ready for export, four illegal handguns, leopard skins and other
contraband. The head of the criminal organization in Côte d'Ivoire is directly
linked to two other operations that took place in Vietnam and Cambodia, in
which 619 kg and 941 kg of ivory were
seized by the authorities in the respective countries. The network is believed
to be behind the killing of tens of thousands of elephants; killed for their
ivory
These arrests were carried out by
the Ivorian law enforcement unit in charge of cross border crime known by its
French acronym UCT and the Ivorian Ministry of Water and Forests, with the
assistance of EAGLE Network, an international wildlife law enforcement NGO. The
American government carried out a thorough investigation of the international
traffic network and these arrests were the result of close collaboration
between the American and Ivorian law enforcement agencies.
The gang's modus consisted of
carving hollow spaces out of timber logs, hiding ivory inside them, and filling
the remaining space with wax. The logs were then reclosed with glue, mixed with
normal wood, and exported in containers to Asia. The same method has been
observed in additional seizures, in Kenya and Mozambique where more than two
tons of ivory have been seized. At least four African countries (Kenya,
Mozambique, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire ) and two Asian ones (Cambodia, Vietnam) are
implicated, making this criminal syndicate an extremely important one in
wildlife trafficking.
Phone analysis showed calls from
those arrested to three known tax haven countries: Switzerland, Turks and
Caicos, and Saint Kits & Nevis. The extent of the money laundering hints at
the level of organization in the syndicate's operations.
One of
those arrested during the operation, a Chinese national, was found in
possession of pages listing the identities of young Ivorian women, their
pictures, height and weight, and whether they had a female genital mutilation.
This has initiated an investigation on traffic in persons for prostitution in
China using fake passports.
According
the the EAGLE Network Founding Director, Ofir Drori: “Ivory trafficking rings
operate internationally and the
effective response to it is international cooperation”. The head of the network that is specialized in wildlife law
enforcement said: “the Government of
Ivory Coast and the USA Government showcase that international cooperation can
get kingpins behind bars”. He added that “Unfortunately, most large ivory
seizures are not followed by any arrests. But with a hands-on approach and
international cooperation, as we had here between Ivory Coast and the United
States, we can get the kingpins behind bars where they belong.”
It
should be noted that EAGLE Côte d'Ivoire is one of nine projects grouped under
the EAGLE network. These projects use the law enforcement model developed in
Cameroon as part of the LAGA - MINFOF collaboration.
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