Following a long term undercover investigation on an international ivory trafficking sea route, two traffickers were arrested in the Libreville sea port with 18 ivory tusks weighing a total of 178 kg on its way to board a ship.
The record seizure for Libreville is a testament of the gravity of ivory trafficking and the challenges ahead.
The operation cracked down on an important and organized network receiving ivory from different sources. It is believed that once the ivory is transported to West Africa by sea, trafficking networks can easily send it directly to Asia from Calabar in Nigeria, Contonou in Benin or Lome in Togo.
The operation was carried out at the seaport by the Judicial Police and the AALF project (Appui à l’Application de la Loi sur la Faune), which is a partnership between the Water and Forestry Ministry and Conservation Justice.
