Two Tanzanian police officers arrested with jumbo tusks

TANZANIA (eTN) – The arrest on Sunday of 2 Tanzanian police officers and 8 other people in possession of elephant tusks is an indication that efforts to conserve and protect elephants in this African

TANZANIA (eTN) – The arrest on Sunday of 2 Tanzanian police officers and 8 other people in possession of elephant tusks is an indication that efforts to conserve and protect elephants in this African nation could be a tough task.

The Tanzanian police force said this week that 9 people including 2 police officers were arrested last Sunday in illegal possession of 70 elephant tusks weighing 305 kilograms with an estimated cost of US$600,000 at the current market price.

Police said their colleagues who were posted at the notorious Oyster Bay Police station in the Tanzanian capital city of Dar es Salaam, were intercepted during the night hours in a Kisarawe location outside the Dar es Salaam city while transporting the bloody ivory to an unknown destination.

The suspects are under police custody waiting to be prosecuted in a court of law pending investigations, police officers said in Dar es Salaam. It is with no doubt that the tusks were chopped off from 35 elephants which were gunned down by poachers, the police said.

The Kisarawe locality neighbors the famous Selous Game Reserve which covers 55,000 square kilometers, making it the biggest wildlife game reserve in Africa.

Wildlife conservationists are worried that the Kisarawe locality could be a transit route for tusks from elephants killed inside the Selous Game reserve or areas surrounding the reserve and other parts of southern Tanzania and Mozambique where big herds of African elephants are living.

The arrest of the 2 police officers was reported just a few days after prison officers were arrested in northern Tanzaniaโ€™s wildlife rich Manyara Region, loaded with live animals and high-caliber guns.

Media outlets and wildlife conservationists in Tanzania have been standing firmly to blame security operatives and politicians over poaching scandals.

Tanzania has been identified as the leading exporter of bloody ivory in recent years. An estimated 10,000 elephants are gunned down in this African country annually. Conservationists say Tanzania has for years been one of Africa’s worst elephant slaughterhouse.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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