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How illegal sandalwood trade thrives in full glare of authorities

Impounded sandalwood in a store at the Kabarnet
The succession of plains and the undulating sinusoidal hills and canyons from Samburu Central to Baragoi in the north and Archers Post on the Samburu-Isiolo border make one of the most scenic swathes of Kenya’s landscape.
The scenery is pristinely alluring and tantalising to the eye, teasing any visitor with mystic beauty. The heavenly, blissful beauty leaves one gasping for breath.
But beneath the idyllic veneer of a lover’s safari paradise is a haven of the deadly multibillion-shilling sandalwood business that threatens the existence of the second-most expensive wood in the world.
Here, the tree is illegally harvested, loaded into vehicles — mostly private, government and ambulances — and transported through roads to other countries, where the sandalwood business thrives, and the government has imposed no restrictions.
Sandalwood (whose scientific name is Osyris lanceolate) is the second-most expensive wood in the world, after the African blackwood that grows in Senegal, Eritrea and South Africa.
PERFUMERY USE
The tree is much sought after because of its use in perfumery and due to restrictions imposed on its harvesting in many parts of the world.
Investigations by the Nation can now reveal the shocking details of the deadly sandalwood business and the intricate web of lethal cartels behind the illegal trade. The cartel will conduct the dirty business at all costs, even killing those who try to stand in their way.
Despite repeated government pronouncements that it will eradicate the lucrative trade and preserve the near extinct tree, there has been little success.
Since its ban in April 4, 2007 by President Mwai Kibaki, government agencies have issued pronouncements against the trade, but none has shown the capacity to end it.
NETWORK GROWS
In fact, the more pronouncements and vows government agencies make, the bigger, bolder and smarter the network grows.
We unearthed a complex network of cartels involved in the illegal business and how the trade is turning traders into overnight millionaires.
The tree is harvested illegally in several parts of Samburu, Pokot, Baringo and other parts of the North Rift.
However, the epicentre of this trade is Samburu. Mr Charles Ochieng, the county forestry conservator, admits that cartels had made the region a playground for the illicit trade.
“I am aware of the illegal sandalwood business that has become deep-rooted in Samburu County. The most affected places include Samburu East, Baragoi and Wamba. However, the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) is working jointly with various government agencies, including the police and the Kenya Wildlife Service, to contain the illicit business,” Mr Ochieng said.
The business is booming."
KFS and its partners, he said, have intensified patrols to combat the illegal harvesting of indigenous and endangered tree in Samburu forests.
But it is not just in Samburu that the endangered tree is being ravaged. Mombasa, Baringo, Nakuru, Laikipia and Isiolo are the other epicentres. The trade goes on in the full glare of law enforcement agencies as the wood is ferried through numerous police checkpoints, including in Eldoret or Nakuru towns.
“The business is booming. With ready markets in Uganda, Saudi Arabia, India and elsewhere, the cartel running the trade has become huge as it wields a lot of power in critical state agencies,” revealed a source who acts as an agent in the trade.
For instance, in October 2018, detectives seized a container of 16.9 tonnes of endangered sandalwood at the port of Mombasa.
SAUDI ARABIA
The 20-foot container, security sources said, was exported from Uganda and was destined for Saudi Arabia.
The wood had been ground and packed in sacks.
Investigations reveal that the well-connected cartel ferries sandalwood from the Samburu forests to Uganda, through the porous Busia border, and the forest produce is ground before it is repackaged in containers ready for export.
“The cartels link up with unscrupulous port officials, including clearing agents to allow the products back into Kenya in readiness for export to other countries overseas,” a senior Kenya Revenue Authority official revealed to the Nation.
In fact, some of the State agencies now thrive on the same vice, which they are tasked with fighting.
Impounded sandalwood in a store at the Kabarnet
Impounded sandalwood in a store at the Kabarnet Police Station in Baringo in December 2015. CHEBOITE KIGEN | NATION
The cartels include prominent politicians, administrators and security officials who have made it almost impossible to bring the illegal trade under control, making the extinction of the endangered plant a near certainty.
Interviews with several residents of Samburu County revealed that the cartels enlist emissaries who are masters of the treacherous terrain. From the panya (unofficial) routes, to collection centres, local smugglers have mastered all the tricks in the book to sustain their trade.
“The cartels usually have armed protectors and informers along specific routes commonly used to ferry the lucrative wood to the market. They have recruited an armed militia to protect their operations,” revealed Mr James Lentoimaga, a resident of Baragoi. The cutters prepare the wood for sale while local middlemen oversee the further chopping of the wood and transportation out of the forest.
SHIPPING WOOD
Tycoons, who are the masters in the game, then help in shipping the wood, mostly in tonnes, to overseas markets.
Unsurprisingly, the dirty business has turned deadly. Those behind the vicious trade ring have been linked to killings, kidnappings and intimidation in Samburu.
The dealers live brutal and ruthless lives. They hire gunmen to intimidate and sometimes murder rivals or government officials who attempt to disrupt the business.
“Sandalwood smuggling has become a very risky business. But it is extremely profitable. There is a booming international market. Therefore, police officers, administrators or government officials who attempt to block the trade are sometimes transferred or even threatened by the well-connected cartels to scare them out of the way,” said a senior security officer privy to the operations of the cartels.
DRIVER KIDNAPPED
Last year, a KWS driver was kidnapped after he failed to execute the killing of four people, among them government officials, who appeared to introduce hurdles in the way of the cartels, a source told the Nation.
“The driver was kidnapped minutes after dropping off his boss at the KWS Training Institute in Naivasha. He was abducted and held in a house in Mwiki, Nairobi, for about two weeks before he was freed after the involvement of senior government officials and detectives,” the source said.
To conceal their trade, dealers in the trade are now using expensive vehicles like Toyota Land Cruiser Prados and Land Cruiser V8s.
Two of several motor vehicles seized at the Maralal Police Station are Toyota Land Cruiser Prados.
SOFT UNDERBELLY
Although the cartels exploit the soft underbelly of the security agencies in Samburu, hardly a month passes without a motor vehicle or motorcycle transporting the wood being seized in the county. Impunity, greed and wanton disregard for the environment have taken their toll on both communal and other State-controlled forests.
Various police stations in Samburu East, Samburu Central and Samburu North have at least one or two motor vehicles seized ferrying sandalwood.
The Nation learnt that in the past one month alone, more than Sh50 million worth of sandalwood has been impounded in Samburu County.
However, there are many other cases that are not reported, where police officers connive with the cartels to sneak sandalwood out of Samburu to the markets.
We will not tolerate cartels involved in this illegal sandalwood trade."
Some of the routes mostly used to ferry sandalwood out of Samburu include the Wamba-Sura Adoru-Suguta road, the Isiolo-Marsabit highway to the Lerata junction and the Wamba-Sura Adoru-Suguta-Rumuruti-Nyahururu-Nakuru road.
Samburu County Police Commander Samson Ogello said at least seven cases involving motor vehicles seized ferrying sandalwood are active in courts.
“The cases are being handled mainly at the Maralal and Wamba law courts. We will not tolerate cartels involved in this illegal sandalwood trade. Those involved will face the full force of law,” Mr Ogello told the Nation.
The police boss revealed that security personnel have increased their patrols in various parts of Samburu to tame the trade.
“We have intensified crackdowns to arrest the criminals involved. I urge residents to be vigilant and to always report members of the cartels to help police arrest culprits. Security agents are ready to crush this cartel,” said the police boss.
'DAYS NUMBERED'
But when asked whether he was aware that police officers sometimes dabble in the trade, Mr Ogello said: "Sometimes there are rogue officers who experiment in crime, but such officers have their days numbered".
Last November, police, with KFS and KWS officials, destroyed sandalwood with a street value of Sh44 million at the Maralal Police Station after obtaining a court order.
The illegal consignment, believed to have originated from the Samburu East communal forest, was confiscated from two loggers arrested on the Wamba-Maralal road.
But this seems not to have bothered the dealers, who continue to operate the lucrative business. Thousands of tonnes of sandalwood logs are illegally ferried out of the vast, rolling jungles of Samburu County, feeding an international trafficking network stretching from Samburu to Pokot, Baringo, Nakuru and other parts of the North Rift. Sandalwood is smuggled from Kenya to the international market involving Uganda, Malasyia, China, Australia, Dubai, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, with India dominating the global sandalwood oil market.

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