7/4/2023 0 Comments Charging rhinoceros statues![]() ![]() Such weights of rhinoceros horn and elephant ivory are estimated to have involved the illegal poaching of more than approximately 35 rhinoceros and more than approximately 100 elephants. laws.įrom at least in or about December 2012 through at least in or about May 2019, KROMAH, CHERIF, SURUR, and AHMED conspired to transport, distribute, sell, and smuggle at least approximately 190 kilograms of rhinoceros horns and at least approximately 10 tons of elephant ivory from or involving various countries in East Africa, including Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, and Tanzania, to buyers located in the United States and countries in Southeast Asia. laws, as well as international treaties implemented by certain U.S. Trade involving endangered or threatened species violates several U.S. KROMAH, CHERIF, SURUR, and AHMED were members of a transnational criminal enterprise (the “Enterprise”) based in Uganda and surrounding countries that was engaged in the large-scale trafficking and smuggling of rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, both protected wildlife species. DEA investigations throughout the world consistently illustrate the lengths and heinous acts these global criminal individuals and networks will commit to further their illicit enterprises.”Īccording to allegations in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court : These suspected criminal masterminds not only conspired to traffic huge amounts of heroin to New York, but also directed a multimillion-dollar poaching scheme to traffic in rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory – both endangered wildlife species. Tersigni said: “DEA’s global investigations with our foreign counterparts often involve transnational criminal networks involved in a wide array of unlawful acts – from drug trafficking to conspiring to commit acts of terror to international money laundering to human trafficking – that undermine the rule of law everywhere. Together, we can protect some of the world’s most iconic species while ensuring the safety and livelihood of the American people.”ĭEA Special Agent in Charge Christopher T. Department of Justice, and others who help bring wildlife traffickers, and other criminals, to justice. ![]() Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, U.S. Department of the Interior remains committed to combating the illegal wildlife trade through the END Wildlife Trafficking Act and the President’s Executive Order on Transnational Organized Crime. ![]() It is often intertwined with other major types of criminal activity including conspiracy, smuggling, money laundering and narcotics – all of which are included in the indictment today. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt said: “Wildlife trafficking will not be tolerated. The excellent work of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the DEA has put the brakes on an operation that allegedly peddled dead protected species and potentially deadly narcotics.” The alleged enterprise, responsible for the illegal slaughter of dozens of rhinos and more than 100 elephants, was as destructive to protected species as it was lucrative. Berman said: “As alleged, these defendants are members of an international conspiracy to traffic in not only heroin but also rhino horns and elephant ivory. SURUR and AHMED, both citizens of Kenya, remain fugitives. CHERIF, a citizen of Guinea, was arrested in Senegal on June 7, 2019, and remains in custody in Senegal pending a process through which his extradition, deportation or other lawful removal to the United States is being considered by Senegalese authorities. KROMAH, a citizen of Liberia, was arrested in Uganda on June 12, 2019, and expelled to the United States. In addition, KROMAH, CHERIF, and SURUR were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, and SURUR and AHMED were charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 10 kilograms of heroin. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced today that MOAZU KROMAH, a/k/a “Ayoub,” a/k/a “Ayuba,” a/k/a “Kampala Man,” AMARA CHERIF, a/k/a “Bamba Issiaka,” MANSUR MOHAMED SURUR, a/k/a “Mansour,” and ABDI HUSSEIN AHMED, a/k/a “Abu Khadi,” were charged in an indictment for participating in a conspiracy to traffic in rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, both protected wildlife species, valued at more than $7 million that involved the illegal poaching of more than approximately 35 rhinoceros and more than approximately 100 elephants. Tersigni, the Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the U.S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, David Bernhardt, the United States Secretary of the Interior, and Christopher T. ![]()
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