This week a sniffer dog stationed at an airport detected five rhino horns and 160 units of lion teeth and nails inside a bag. The illegal items were found in possession of a Vietnamese woman at the airport in Mozambique’s capital city. The woman was part of an ivory smuggling group based in Mozambique.
Ivory Smuggling Vietnamese Woman
Police at the airport arrested and detained the 30-year-old Vietnamese woman on Monday before she boarded a plane to Vietnam. The city police spokesperson Lionel Muchina stated the woman lived in Maputo for one year before attempting to leave. Mr. Muchina added that the seized wildlife trophies were believed to result from the killing of three rhinos and 12 lions. Both lions and rhinos are protected by Mozambican law. Possessing any items related to or associated with both animals is a crime with a stipulated jail sentence.
Illegal Ivory Trade in Mozambique
Africa has seen a decline in the illegal ivory trade for the past five years due to different organizations’ consistent efforts. But poaching remains high in certain countries like Mozambique, for instance.
Mozambique records high levels of poaching and illegal ivory trade. The country’s significant role in the global ivory trade is evident because of its massive elephant population decline. Additionally, a large number of ivory seizures abroad are linked to Mozambique. The country rarely reports any seizures of ivory, but it is connected to numerous large seizures elsewhere.
The population decline of the savanna elephant species in Mozambique is one of the most striking things in the country. According to a Great Elephant Census conducted in only five years (2009-2014), Mozambique lost 53 percent of these elephants. It was revealed that most of these animals were targeted for their ivory.
Back in 2016, Mozambique’s neighbor Tanzania improved its wildlife protection efforts significantly. Because of this, ivory traffickers connected to Asian and Vietnamese-led criminal syndicates moved operations to Mozambique. According to investigations, the traffickers started using Mozambique as a base for trafficking affecting Mozambique’s dwindling elephant populations as well as from neighboring countries. The traffickers mostly smuggle the ivory in shipping containers out of the country.
Measures to Stop Ivory Trade
Ever since authorities realized that Mozambique had become a hub for organized ivory trafficking networks, numerous arrests have been made. Mostly police have arrested Vietnamese citizens attempting to smuggle wildlife trophies out of Mozambique. Moreover, more vigorous measures to combat the illegal ivory trade have been deployed in Mozambique. Actions such as training of guards in protected areas are utilized. Training helps strengthen their awareness and ability to pass urgent information to authorities in ports and airports to facilitate the seizure of ivory.
Back in 2017, Mozambique introduced laws clarifying that African elephants and other wildlife are fully protected, and a maximum prison term for wildlife offenses was increased to six years. Mozambique agreed to cooperate with South Africa and Tanzania in the effort to try and stop the illegal ivory trade. The cooperation has since led to the arrests of poachers and ivory traffickers.
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