For the second time in a week, Angolan authorities arrested two Vietnamese nationals on suspicion of illegal poaching and wildlife trafficking, preventing them from leaving the country with over 46 kilograms of elephant ivory, teeth and rhinoceros horns, reports Novo Jornal.
The two individuals raised suspicions during check-in, leading authorities to track their movements through Luanda 4 de Fevereiro International Airport using CCTV surveillance. Intercepting the suspects before they could board a plane to Dubai en route to Vietnam, authorities discovered more than 500 pieces of wildlife paraphernalia believed to originate from illegal poaching activities in Angola secreted away in three pieces of carry-on luggage.
Authorities confiscated the contraband goods and handed over both individuals to the National Police for legal proceedings. The airport arrests were carried out as part of a joint operation conducted by General Tax Administration, the Criminal Investigation Service (known as the SIC after its Portuguese initials) and the Customs Fiscal Police as part of an ongoing effort to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade.
The operation, they claim, reinforces Angola’s commitment to preserving biodiversity, protecting endangered species and upholding international agreements like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and serve as a stern warning to those involved in the illegal trade.
Days earlier, two Vietnamese construction engineers were arrested for possession of an even larger hoard of ivory. The men had placed 31 pieces of raw ivory, along with 1,200 worked pieces, under a pile of wooden boards in a shipyard of a construction company in Camama municipality. An anonymous complaint to SIC tipped off authorities to the massive haul of raw ivory and ivory rings, sticks, cubes and spheres, which also included six pieces of mussivi wood, a protected species often exploited by illegal logging operations.
[See more: Mozambican authorities seize hundreds of kilos of ivory]
According to a 2022 report from CITES, of which Angola is a signatory, Angola and Vietnam are among the six countries and territories that have dominated rhino horn trafficking routes. They note that rhino horns are frequently smuggled on commercial airlines, as was the case in the Thursday arrest, and that the trade is driven by “prolific Vietnamese and Chinese criminal networks.”
Demand for rhino horn is split between medicinal purposes, none of which have been legitimised through peer-reviewed study, and carved products like jewellery and home décor. Elephant teeth are also used in traditional Asian medicine despite an absence of scientific proof, and ivory tends to be worked into jewellery and decorative items, as seen in the shipyard seizure.
CITES formally sanctioned Angola in late 2023 for failing to make progress in tackling illegal ivory and rhino horn trade since 2020, recommending that “all commercial trade in CITES-listed species with Angola be suspended until further notice.”
According to UK-based watchdog NGO the Environmental Investigation Agency, Angola had been implicated in the confiscation of at least 11 tonnes of ivory since 2016, but most seizures (77 percent) were made outside the country, indicating that Angola was not doing enough to prevent illegal wildlife trafficking at the source.
So far the recommendation, which went into effect 10 January 2024, remains in place.
