Kwale woman arrested with 88 ivory pieces worth Sh2 million

Some of the 88 pieces of elephant tusks that a woman was found with in Msambweni, Kwale county on March 29, 2017. /ALLOYS MUSYOKA
Some of the 88 pieces of elephant tusks that a woman was found with in Msambweni, Kwale county on March 29, 2017. /ALLOYS MUSYOKA

A woman was arrested on Wednesday after she was found with

88 pieces of elephant tusks with a street value of Sh2 million.

The cut pieces that weighed

41.91kg were found in the suspect's house in Nganja village of Msambweni constituency in Kwale county.

Msambweni police boss Joseph Chebusit said they found the pieces packed in two sacks.

Chebusit told the media in his office on Thursday they raided the house after members of the public tipped them off.

“We have taken the suspect to court on the offence

of being in possession of tusks," he said, adding investigations were ongoing.

He said the state of the trophies indicated that they had been in storage for long and were being prepared for transportation to a buyer in another location.

The police boss said the investigations were on a large number of people including dealers, transporters, recipients and brokers.

“We are not going to leave anything to chance because the suspect cannot have been working alone. Whoever will be mentioned will be arrested for investigations,” he said.

Chebusit praised residents for alerting police.

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