300kgs of game meat, elephant trophies recovered in Kajiado raid

A multi-agency team led by CCIO Kajiado County conducted an operation within Enkorika in Kajiado where a motorcycle ferrying game meat weighing approximately 300 kgs was recovered.

During the Saturday operation, three suspects who had earlier killed several grant’s gazelles and a dikdik managed to escape but efforts to nab them are ongoing.

In another operation, two individuals were arrested at National bank- Kitengela in possession of a 50 kg sack of maize that was stuffed with 5 pieces of elephant trophies weighing 6.1 kg.

The two are Julius Oloo Omolo and a 66-year-old foreigner Isaiah Juma Babu.

The detectives are searching for the main suspect who managed to escape.

This comes as statistics from the Tourism ministry show that 80 elephants were killed by poachers in 2017. The number decreased to 38 in 2018.

Last year, 38 elephants were killed by poachers. So far, seven elephants have been killed this year.

Tourism CS Najib Balala attributed the decline to a lot of work that has gone into anti-poaching strategies.

“I joined the ministry in January 2018 before putting strict strategies into protecting the endangered species,” Balala told the Star.