Police seize Vietnamese with lion teeth and elephant skin worth Sh3,000 in Nairobi

NAIROBI, KENYA: A Vietnamese national was Wednesday night arrested while trying to fly out with two teeth of a lion and a small skin of an elephant valued at Sh3,000.

The man was planning to fly to Bangkok from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi when he was intercepted by police.

Police say they are yet to know the source of the teeth and skin and that the man will appear in court in Nairobi to face charges of trafficking.

“The man had started his journey in Nairobi where he has been for a while now,” said an officer at the airport aware of the operation.

The incident comes in the wake of clampdown on traffickers of ivory.

Police have been making arrests and recovery of ivory and other animal skins in an operation in the country. This gives an indication of a continued killing of animals despite a campaign to stop the crime.

Police also said a Nigerian national who was rushed to hospital after falling ill over cocaine he had inserted to his anal system has emitted 49 pellets of the 57 he had valued at more than Sh5 million.

The 37-year-old man had arrived at JKIA in Nairobi from Lagos while on transit when the incident happened.

The airline that was to fly him out with other passengers to Bangkok booked him at the Laico Regency yesterday morning.

Minutes after his arrival at the hotel, he fell sick prompting officials there to rush him to Kenyatta National Hospital.

The pilot who had more than 125 passengers on transit fell sick on arrival at JKIA forcing the airline to book them in more than three hotels in the city.