Largest hoard of ivory seized in Mozambique

MAPUTO: The amount of ivory seized in Maputo port on Thursday last week, before it could be exported illicitly to Asia, turns out to be much larger than initially believed.

The press officer for the Mozambique Tax Authority (AT), Fernando Tinga, said on Friday that the AT had counted 867 tusks weighing more than 3.5 tons.

This means the ivory comes from at least 434 poached elephants.

It is not yet known where or when the elephants were killed, but the accumulation of such a huge hoard of ivory must have taken a considerable time and may have spanned several southern African countries.

Tinga confirmed that this is the largest seizure of ivory in Mozambican history.

The Mozambican authorities have now made their first arrests in the case.

Recently, police detained the driver of a container filled with ivory as well as a customs broker who handled the container.

Further seized were five other containers from the same company, Chinese-owned Newlite, which has premises in Beluluane, on the outskirts of Maputo.

Other port drivers demonstrated inside the port premises against the detention of their colleague, claiming he did not know what was inside the container.

The ivory was discovered during what the AT described as a “routine inspection” by electronic scanner of the containers.

All export of ivory, raw or worked, is banned under Mozambican legislation. – AIM