Two suspected poachers were arrested while in possession of six pieces of elephant tusks in Tigania East, Meru County, police said.
The two had wrapped in four sacks the tusks weighing 18.5 kilos when they were intercepted by police and Kenya Wildlife Service officials.
Police said the two were nabbed at Muriamburi Junction Mulika area on July 18 as they transported the same to a potential buyer aboard a motorcycle.
Police said the suspects will be charged with the offence of being in Possession of Wildlife Trophies of Endangered Species Contrary to Section 92(4) of the Wildlife Conservation Management Act 2013.
Officials said the seizure shows up to three elephants had been killed and there is a likelihood the incidents happened in the nearby parks.
Meanwhile, a Kibera court in Nairobi on July 11, 2024 acquitted two men alleged to have been involved in an ivory mail scheme from 2015.
Principal Magistrate Monicah Maroro found Patrick Willy Mutuku and Dennis Paul Yandi not guilty of two charges of dealing with wildlife trophies and two charges under the East African Community Customs Management Act for deceptive packaging.
The magistrate said there was insufficient evidence to convict the two and ordered the bond terms of the suspects to be released to their guarantors.
It was alleged that the two men, along with a South Korean national, Kim Young, had committed the offenses by mailing 50 cylindrical pieces of worked ivory weighing a total of 4.5 kilos to the Netherlands on two different dates in 2015.
All accused were subsequently arrested and arraigned before Kibera court on December 24, 2015.
Officials say long-running criminal prosecutions are often characterized by weak and/or compromised investigations or other irregularities.
Court records indicate that a judgement on this case was rendered on February 16, 2023 and all accused were convicted.
A sentencing date was scheduled for March 2 and then April 6 but was not done.
It was later learned that the first accused, Kim Young, had absconded after the court had erroneously returned his passport, indicating that all three accused had not been remanded into custody on their initial conviction.
It is now believed that Kim Young returned to Korea. He is still at large and his warrant remains outstanding.
After Young had fled, it was also discovered that the land title deed that he provided the court in 2015 as part of his bond was fake as was the identity of his surety.
The assistance of Interpol was requested to find Young and return him to Kenya but that has not happened to date.
Elephant tusks fetch a fortune in the black market as a surge in demand for ivory in the East continues to fuel the illicit trade in elephant tusks, especially from Africa.
Officials say despite a ban on the international trade in ivory, African elephants are still being poached in large numbers.
As part of efforts to stop the menace, Kenya has started using high-tech surveillance equipment, including drones, to track poachers and keep tabs on elephants and rhinos.
KWS and stakeholders have put in place mechanisms to eradicate all forms of wildlife crime, particularly poaching.
These mechanisms include enhanced community education, interagency collaboration, and intensive intelligence-led operations, among others.
These efforts led to zero rhino poaching in Kenya in 2020-the first time in about two decades.
