THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/ADF STAFF
In what is being lauded as a major crackdown on the illegal ivory trade, Tanzanian officials have arrested and charged a Chinese woman, dubbed the “Queen of Ivory,” with smuggling ivory worth $2.7 million.
Yang Feng Glan, 66, is among the most prolific traffickers ever brought to justice in the war against elephant poaching. She is believed to be behind a network that trafficked a massive quantity of ivory over the past several years, according to Elephant Action League, a conservation group.
“It’s the news that we all have been waiting for, for years,” said Andrea Crosta, co-founder of the Elephant Action League and WildLeaks. “Finally, a high-profile Chinese trafficker is in jail.”
According to the Tanzanian government, the elephant population plummeted from an estimated 109,051 in 2009 to 43,330 in 2014. A task force from Tanzania’s National and Transnational Serious Crimes Investigation Unit called Operation Spider Net followed Yang for a year as she moved back and forth between China, Uganda and Tanzania.
According to charging papers, the “Queen of Ivory” was alleged to be operating in Tanzania for 14 years as the main link between internal and international poachers, traders and buyers.
“She has been financing people who have been killing elephants in protected areas, and she buys elephant tusks and supplies them to other people engaged in the illegal trade,” said Nassoro Katuga, Tanzania’s state attorney.
Katuga said Yang was involved in the smuggling and trading of 706 elephant tusks from about 350 slain elephants.