62.5 kilos of processed ivory were seized Saturday at the Kinshasa-N'djili international airport by airport services.

 

As part of the preparation of the ivory market closure operation in Kinshasa funded by USAID through the CAFEC Lac-Tumba Project and managed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), several judicial inspectors from Public prosecutors’ office  have been trained to be better equipped with the support of Juristrale, a NGO partner.

 

On Saturday, June 2nd, at the N'djili International Airport of Kinshasa, thanks to the aforementioned inspectors, a Tanzanian citizen was apprehended with 62.5kg of processed ivory that he was trying to bring to Malaysia. The legal file is being opened at the Kinshasa Matete public prosecutor's office in Limete.

 

It should be remembered, ivory trade is prohibited since the elephant is listed in Appendix I of the CITES Convention of March 3, 1973 (the DRC adhered to on July 20, 1976) among the species fully protected by the Congolese legislation (see in particular Law No. 14/003 of 11 February 2014 on conservation and Ministerial Order No. 020 / CAB / MIN / ECN-EF / 2006 of 20 May 2006 approving the list of protected animal species DRC).

 

Ivory trade and poaching of elephants are also banned worldwide since elephants have been classified as endangered species for many years.