Police in Mombasa have impounded a consignment of 228 pieces of ivory at a warehouse in Tudor, Mombasa.
Speaking on the incident, the Kenya Wildlife Service assistant director Coast region conservancy, Mr Arthur Tuda and Mombasa County Commissioner, Nelson Marwa said they acted on a tip off from a member of the public on Wednesday night after which they raided the premises and found the ivory. 74 items in the consignment were small tusks estimated to be five kilogrammes each. The estimated average weight of the rest of the ivory tusks was 10 kilogrammes.
Mr Marwa said they arrested one suspect, Abdul Halim Sadik, 25, from Lamu County in connection with the ivory haul and launched a manhunt for two others suspects who are still at large.
He also said the ivory was linked to terrorism, radicalisation and drug barons in Mombasa. The ivory is said to come from various parks within Kenya and from outside the country. The KWS assistant director said the colouration of the tusks indicated that they had originated from two different sources, Savanna and the Congo forest.
He added that the confiscated ivory indicated an estimated 100 elephants had been killed.
Mr Tuda said government efforts had helped contain the rate of poaching, noting that they were now mostly handling dealers attempting to smuggle ivory out of the country.
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