49 pounds of elephant ivory found in package to Washington, feds say. Two are charged
Two people from Democratic Republic of Congo are accused in the smuggling of elephant ivory and a rhino horn into Washington from Africa, federal prosecutors said.
Herdade Lokua, 23, and Jospin Mujangi, 31, of Kinshasa, DRC, were indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 3 on charges including conspiracy, money laundering, smuggling and Lacey Act violations, according to a news release from The U.S. Department of Justice.
Lokua and Mujangi are accused of illegally shipping three packages of around 49 pounds of elephant ivory in August and September 2020 by air freight into Seattle, the release states.
Then in May, they shipped 5 pounds of white rhinoceros horn to Seattle, federal prosecutors said in the release.
Attorneys for Lokua and Mujangi declined to comment to McClatchy News.
To conceal the ivory and horn, the accused smugglers cut them into small pieces, painted them black and labeled the packages as “wood,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the tusks were sold for $14,500 and $18,000 for the horn, though they labeled the packages as being worth $50 to $60.
They were arrested on Nov. 3 in Edmonds when they came to negotiate a deal in which they offered a buyer elephant ivory, pangolin scales and “intact” rhinoceros horns. Pangolins inhabit parts of southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. They are one of the world’s most poached mammals for their scales.
Both Lokua and Mujangi face a maximum of 25 years in prison.
An international operation called “Operation Kuluna” led to the seizure of 2,067 pounds of ivory and 75 pounds of pangolin scales in Kinshasa, DRC, following the arrest of the two accused smugglers, the news release states.
The wildlife parts were worth around $3.5 million and could have been trafficked, the release states.
A professor at the University of Washington says his research helped officials in the arrests.
Samuel Wasser, also the co-executive director of the Center for Environmental Forensic Science at the school, has collected DNA samples from seized ivory, rhinoceros horn and pangolin scales and created a database to monitor where animals are killed and trafficked, KING-TV reported.
He told the news outlet he worked with the Department of Homeland Security on a seizure in Southwest Africa, which led to the accused smugglers’ arrest.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 1:31 PM with the headline "49 pounds of elephant ivory found in package to Washington, feds say. Two are charged."
