Tanzania to probe elephant tusk smuggling in RP

MANILA, Philippines - A team of Interpol officers from Tanzania arrives in the country today to investigate the alleged smuggling of elephant tusks into the country, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said.

BOC-Customs police chief Superintendent Joey Yuchongco said the five-man Interpol team will visit the BOC and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to get information on the elephant tusks seized last year that are believed to have come from their country.

The five members of the Tanzania Interpol unit are Mulokoza Justus, Rwegasira Theotimosnestory, Alio Adan Mohamed, Mnada Nyamandito, and Menrand Rweyemami.

They will stay in the country for a week to gather information to strengthen the case against the perpetrators of the ivory smuggling. 

Last year, the BOC seized two 20-foot shipping containers with 6.23 tons of elephant tusks valued at P100 million.

The cargo, allegedly consigned to 2010 Enterprise, was supposedly declared as blow molding machines and waste plastic. The tusks were turned over to the DENR and stored at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Conservation Center in Quezon City.

This week, however, tusks worth some P3 million were stolen and replaced with replicas to avoid detection.

“The Interpol (of Dar-es-Salaam) wrote (Customs) Commissioner Morales requesting permission to allow them to conduct an investigation for the purpose of strengthening the case against the perpetrators,” Yuchongco said.

“When the Interpol officers from Tanzania sent their letter they were not aware that some of the tusks were reportedly missing,” he added. 

In their letter, the Interpol team said they intend to conduct a complete inventory of the tusks to identify their markings. They also want to obtain copies of the shipping documents. 

Yuchongco said a syndicate is suspected of being behind the smuggling of the elephant tusks. 

“In this business, they could make easy money. For example, from just one container, with an estimated value of P50 million, the syndicate could get a clean P20 million in profit. These tusks are easy to dispose of or sell,” Yuchongco said.

He said ivory tusks that arrive in the country are used to make religious ornaments and mahjong tiles. The finished products are either sold locally or exported to Hong Kong and China.

“We are told that these ivory products are big hits in Asia,” Yuchongco said.