Three Chinese nationals charged with illegal possession of tusks
THREE Chinese nationals were arraigned at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam on Friday charged with being found in unlawful possession of elephant tusks valued at over 5bn/-.
Before Principal Resident Magistrate Isaya Arufani, the trio were Huang Gin (50), Xu Fujie (22) and Chen Jinzhan (31). They were not allowed to enter any plea to the charges because the case will be tried by the High Court.
“Since this court lacked jurisdiction to try the case, you will not be granted bail. If you wish, you may file an application for bail at the High Court,” the presiding magistrate told the accused persons.
Advocate Edward Chuwa, for the accused persons, informed the court that they would file the application for determination of bail for his clients to the High Court soon.
The prosecution led by State Attorney Faraja Nchimbi informed the court that investigations into the matter have not been completed. The magistrate, thereafter, adjourned the case to November 21, for another mention.
It is alleged that the accused persons committed the offence on November 2, this year, at Kifaru Street, Mikocheni B in Kinondoni District in the city.
The prosecution told the court that jointly and together, the accused persons were found in unlawful possession of 706 pieces of elephant tusks weighing 1,889kg valued at 5,435,865,000/-, property of the government without a permit from the director of wildlife.
It was reported that the said pieces representing the slaughter of about 400 elephants were found in sacks of garlic at the house of the Chinese nationals.
Well-armed criminals kill elephants and rhinos for their tusks, largely due to increasing demand in China for ivory ornaments and folk medicines. It is reported further that most of the tusks smuggled from the east African country end up in Asia.
International trade in ivory was banned in 1989 after the population of elephants dropped from the millions in the mid-20th century to about 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.
Last year, a Tanzanian Member of Parliament said poaching was out of control with an average of 30 elephants being killed for their ivory every day.
In August 2011, Tanzanian authorities seized more than 1,000 elephant tusks hidden in sacks of dried fish at Zanzibar port and destined for Malaysia.
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