Two Vietnamese and a Chinese arrested with ivory at JKIA, Nairobi

Two Vietnamese nationals and a Chinese were Monday evening arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi while carrying ivory and a lion tooth valued at Sh100, 000.

The foreigners were from Kinshasa, DRC Congo, and were connecting to China through JKIA when they were arrested.

Airport CID boss Joseph Ngisa said the two Vietnamese had bangles made of rhino valued at Sh80,00 while the Chinese had a necklace with a lion tooth valued at Sh20,000.

"The passengers need to know that having a body part of an animal is outlawed in Kenya. They will be taken to court," said Ngisa.

Poaching in the region is on the rise as armed criminal gangs kill elephants for tusks and rhinos for horns, usually to be shipped to Asia for use in making ornaments and medicines.

As part of efforts to stop the crime, Kenya has started using high-tech surveillance equipment including drones to track poaching gangs and keep tabs on elephants and rhinos roaming in national parks.

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Parliament has also passed strict anti- poaching laws and the government has beefed up security at parks to stop poaching, which threatens the vital tourism industry.

Regionally, Kenya has also emerged as a major transit route for ivory destined for Asian markets from eastern and central Africa in recent days.

Ivory trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).