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News > World

Elephant Tusk Trafficker 'Ivory Queen' Prosecuted in Tanzania

  • Yang Feng Glan, dubbed the

    Yang Feng Glan, dubbed the "Ivory Queen", sits inside the Kisutu Resident Magistrate's Court in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Feb. 19, 2019. | Photo: Reuters

Published 19 February 2019
Opinion

A Chinese businesswoman, known as “Ivory Queen”, was sentenced to prison by Tanzanian court for trafficking elephant tusks from the African nation.

A Tanzanian court Tuesday convicted a Chinese woman Yang Feng Glan, known as the “Ivory Queen” for trafficking tusks from more than 400 elephants.

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Feng Glan, 69, was convicted in Dar es Salaam for trafficking 860 tusks worth US$5.6 million between 2000 and 2014. This meant slaughtering of dozens of herds of elephants.

Along with the “Ivory Queen”, two Tanzanian men were also found guilty for illegal commerce. “The prosecution proved the case against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt,” Judge Huruma Shaidi told the court.

Yang Feng Glan had been charged in October 2015 along with two Tanzanian men with smuggling 860 pieces of ivory between 2000 and 2004 worth 13 billion shillings (US$5.6 million). She denied the charges.

Kisutu Court Magistrate Huruma Shaidi sentenced Yang, Salivius Matembo and Manase Philemon to 15 years in prison on convictions of leading an organized criminal gang.

Shaidi also ordered them to either pay twice the market value of the elephant tusks or face another two years in prison.

In court documents, prosecutors said Glan "intentionally did organize, manage and finance a criminal racket by collecting, transporting or exporting and selling government trophies" weighing a total of 1.889 tonnes.

Tanzania's elephant population shrank from 110,000 in 2009 to little more than 43,000 in 2014, according to a 2015 census, with conservation groups blaming "industrial-scale" poaching.

In March 2016, Tanzania sentenced two Chinese men to 35 years each in jail for ivory smuggling, while in December 2015 another court sentenced four Chinese men to 20 years in jail each after they were convicted of smuggling rhino horns.

In China and East Asia, ivory is used to make ornaments and demand is high from these countries giving rise to the illegal trade.

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