Three arrested in ivory bust
Publish date: 20 February 2017
Issue Number: 715
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: General
Ugandan authorities seized a ton of illegal ivory and arrested three West Africans they believe were plotting to ship it abroad. A report on the News24 site notes that the bust took place late on Friday in Kampala, where law enforcement officials had been monitoring the West Africans for several weeks, said Gessa Simplicious, a spokesperson for the Uganda Wildlife Authority. A Liberian and two Guinea-Bissau nationals were arrested for possessing the ivory and would face criminal charges. The ivory likely had been imported from neighbouring countries such as Tanzania and Congo because it had markings not familiar to Ugandan authorities, Simplicious said, according to the report.