Villagers surrender two rifles to police in Elgeyo Marakwet

Police recovered two rifles that were surrendered by villagers in Tot, Elgeyo Marakwet County.

The first incident happened in Kabisioi village, Olot sub location, Mokoro location within Tot division where a villager surrendered one AK47 rifle loaded with a magazine of 12 rounds of 7.62 mm.

Police said another incident happened in the same area where a villager surrendered one AK47 rifle loaded with an empty magazine.

The weapons were taken for ballistic tests to establish where they have been used for crime, police said of the September 13, 2025 incident.

This comes amid operations in the area to address crime in general. Cattle rustling menace is still rampant amid operations to tame the same.

Meanwhile, a suspected poacher was arrested and two elephant tusks valued at about Sh2 million recovered from him in Kinna area, Isiolo County.

The suspect had buried the two tusks in a shallow trench when police and Kenya Wildlife Service personnel were alerted and moved to action on September 13, 2025.

The two tusks are believed to have been retrieved from an elephant that was killed within Meru National Park at unknown date, officials said.

Officials said they had been tipped off and moved to action before making the recoveries.

The suspect was detained pending arraignment. Police said the suspect 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.

He is said to have planned to sell them to a waiting potential buyer when the officials acted.

This is the latest seizure of ivory to be made in a series in the past months.

This indicates elephants are being killed despite stringent measures in place to address the menace of poaching.

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.

Kenya Wildlife Service 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.