BRAZZAVILLE \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Officials in Congo were on Sunday holding a Chinese national as he tried to smuggle 10 kilos (22 pounds) of ivory — including five large elephant tusks — out of Congo, a wildlife group said.<\/p>\n
The 35-year old was arrested Saturday at Maya-Maya airport, in the capital Brazzaville, said Naftali Honig, coordinator of the Project to Apply the Law on Fauna (PALF).<\/p>\n
Officials found five large elephant tusks, 80 ivory chopsticks, several hankos, or Chinese name seals, three 3 ivory carvings and many small ivory items, he added.<\/p>\n
He was taking a flight bound for Beijing.<\/p>\n
The Congolese paramilitary gendarmerie are holding the suspect, who faces up to five years in prison if convicted of the attempt to smuggle the wildlife artefacts.<\/p>\n
"We vowed to help the government of Congo send a zero tolerance message to ivory traffickers, and as you can see this message is in action," said Honig.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month five African poachers trafficking endangered species were arrested and put behind bars in Gabon.<\/p>\n
On that occasion, officials seized 13 heads and 32 hands of apes, 12 panther hides, a lion hide, five elephant tails and numerous hides of other less endangered species, according to another wildlife group there.<\/p>\n
It was the biggest ever seizure conducted in Africa concerning apes, according to Gabon’s AALF, known by its French acronym for Support for the Application of the Wildlife Act.<\/p>\n
Copyright -\u00a9 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n
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