Foreigners are being arrested at Kenya’s international airport for wearing ivory
- Kenya authorities take hard line on ‘ivory smuggling’
A Spanish woman has become the second foreigner in a week to be arrested at Kenya’s international airport for wearing an ivory bangle, the wildlife service said Monday.
Spaniard Maria Pich-Aguilera, 50, was arrested on Sunday evening and faces a fine of one million shillings (US$9,800) or 12 months in prison for illegal possession of ivory.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said in a statement she was “arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with an ivory bangle”, while travelling from Nairobi to Tanzania’s financial capital Dar es Salaam.
Last week a Frenchwoman was arrested at the airport on her way from France to Mayotte for possession of an ivory bracelet. She pleaded guilty and paid the one million shilling fine.
“We noticed this new trend where ivory is smuggled through worked or processed bangles and we have increased surveillance,” said an investigator speaking on condition of anonymity.
A KWS official, also asking not to be named, said that trafficking included “ornamentals made out of ivory”.
