A suspected Chinese ivory smuggler has been apprehended in Kenya after a coordinated operation between the two countries, China's wildlife authorities said on Monday.

The suspect, surnamed Xue, was caught in Nairobi on Jan 17 by Kenyan authorities and extradited to China the next day, the China Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office said.

"This is the first time that China has arrested wildlife crime suspects outside of the country," said Wan Ziming, director of the Law Enforcement and Training Division under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Management Authority of China.

"It sends a signal of the government's zero tolerance toward the illegal wildlife trade."

Wan, who is also coordinator of the National Inter-Agency CITES Enforcement Coordination Group, said the case was part of a cross-border operation code-named Cobra II launched by China and several countries in Asia, Africa and North America, to crack down on the illegal wildlife trade from the end of 2013.

Xue was based in Kenya and had allegedly been involved in the illegal ivory trade for some time. He apparently employed people to smuggle ivory, as courier mules, from Kenya to China.

Two other suspects, surnamed Zheng and Li, were arrested on Jan 16 and 17 upon their arrival in China. These arrests mean that all the suspects in the group have been apprehended.

A breakthrough in the case occurred when the luggage of a passenger, who was trying to enter China, attracted the attention of customs staff at Taoxian airport in Shenyang, Liaoning province, on Nov 27.

X-ray scans showed that items in the luggage resembled nuts or ball bearings.

The passenger opened the luggage at the request of the customs staff. Inside were several layers of well-sealed opaque bags. Labels on the bags indicated the contents were nuts.

The passenger, who appeared calm and cooperative, said he was asked to get the nuts as presents for children and he had nothing to declare.

He even tore open a bag to reveal the contents.

But customs staff took a bag from the bottom layer, which was different from those on the top layer.

They discovered 1,226 ivory beads with diameters of 1.8 cm to 2 cm, and weighing 8.77 kg.

Immediately after that, Chinese law enforcement officers contacted the Kenyan government and a team arrived in Nairobi on Jan 15.

On Jan 17, a Kenyan law enforcement team arrested Xue and other gang suspects.

Customs police in Shenyang discovered the gang had allegedly been buying ivory in Kenya illegally and paying mules up to 10,000 yuan ($1,640) for each delivery.

Xue's girlfriend, surnamed Li, is believed to have helped with customs clearance procedures.

Li Quan, head of the Anti-Smuggling Bureau of Customs in Shenyang said the operation was a prime example of inter-agency and international cooperation as it involved the CITES Management Authority of China, the International Cooperation Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, the Chinese embassy in Kenya, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force and Kenyan authorities.

The operation also led to enhanced cooperation channels among these agencies and paved the way for future actions, said Meng Xianlin, deputy director of China's Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office.

Shi Jianbin, an environmentalist with TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, called for more countries to cooperate in combating wildlife crime.

Fighting the illegal wildlife trade usually requires cooperation between various countries and departments, but it's difficult to conduct cross-border arrests as coordination mechanisms still have to be fully established, Meng said.Xinhua contributed to this story.

yangyao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 02/11/2014 page4)