Two Chinese ivory smugglers sentenced to 35 years each in jail

On March 18, a court in Tanzania sentenced two Chinese men to 30 years each in jail for smuggling ivory, local media reported. They face an additional five years of jail for attempting to bribe police and wildlife officers. The men can also choose to pay a fine of 54.3 billion Tanzanian shillings ($25 million) each to avoid jail time, according to reports.

The sentence is believed to be one of the heaviest punishments handed out to poachers in the region.

The two men, Xu Fujie, 31, and Huang Gin, 51, were found guilty of illegally possessing 706 pieces of elephant tusks, which according to reports, means that at least 226 elephants were killed. The haul, weighing about 1.8 metric tons, is valued at around $3.1 million, reports say.

The men reportedly entered Tanzania posing as garlic importers and marine product exporters in 2010. They were arrested in Dar es Salaam in 2013.

“Considering the evidence … and the huge loss that the nation has suffered for the killing of 226 elephants, it is obvious the accused are a real threat to the elephant population,” magistrate Cyprian Mkeha said in his ruling, according to the local newspaper The Citizen.

The men’s lawyers say that they will appeal against the verdict.

Last year, a Chinese woman, dubbed the “Queen of Ivory” was arrested in Tanzania for smuggling 706 elephant tusks. She, too, faces a maximum sentence of 30 years if found guilty.

In June 2015, Tanzania’s government revealed that the country was amidst a troubling elephant poaching crisis. A census by the Tanzanian government showed that the number of elephants had declined by 60 percent in just five years: from more than 100,000 in 2009 to less than 44,000 in 2014.

Article published by Shreya Dasgupta

Animals, China wildlife trade, Elephants, Environment, Ivory, Ivory Trade, Mammals, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking

Africa, Tanzania

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