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Interpol issues arrest warrant for 2 Tanzanians linked to ivory syndicate

Xinhua, October 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Interpol on Friday issued an international arrest warrant for two Tanzanians, who are linked to an ivory syndicate operating in Kenya.

The brothers -- Samuel Jefwa and Nicholas Jefwa -- have "involvement in possession and dealing in ivory" and are believed to be hiding in South Sudan, according to the international police agency.

They have links to an ivory haul worth 5.7 million U.S. dollars seized in Singapore in April 2015.

Interpol released photographs of the duo, who had rented a house in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

It said the two are key suspects in the smuggling of ivory from Tanzania through the porous Lunga Lunga border to Kenya where the tusks were shipped from Mombasa port.

Three of their accomplices had been charged in court in Mombasa with exporting 511 pieces of ivory to Thailand.

Interpol Nairobi Central Bureau senior officer Vitalis Okumu said they are working with the Kenyan police to track down the suspects.

Interpol has already dispatched a team to Nairobi, capital of Kenya, to help fight illegal ivory trafficking with efforts to apprehend key individuals behind ivory trade.

Interpol was behind the arrest of ivory kingpin Feisal Mohammed, who was sentenced in July to 20 years for ivory trafficking.

Kenyan authorities have intensified war on ivory trade through increased operations at Mombasa port, a usual transit route for ivory. Endit