Vicenza, major seizure of ivory: 80 African elephant objects

The Carabinieri of the CITES Unit of Vicenza have seized 80 objects made of ivory African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) of presumed Chinese origin, for a total weight of approximately 170 kg, illegally detained inside a private home in the province of Vicenza by a subject of Chinese nationality.

The kidnapping, connected to a tax investigation activity by the Guardia di Finanza of Senigallia (Ancona), was delegated by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Vicenza to which the CITES unit of the Vicenza capital had denounced the Chinese individual for the violation of art. 1 paragraph 1 letters a) and f) of Law no. 150/1992 contesting the importation and possession without the required documentation of ivory artefacts of specimens belonging to the species listed in Annex A of Regulation (EC) n.338/97.

Together with finds of high artistic-cultural value, among which they appear tusks engraved with figures orientals, a katana, carvings depicting animals and still life, two tusks were found raw African elephant (Loxodonta Africana) and a black rhino horn (Diceros bicornis), both in Annex A of EC Regulation no. 338/97 relative to the protection of species of wild flora and fauna by controlling their trade, a regulation which implemented at European level the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), to which 183 countries have signed up.

Elephant poaching and ivory trafficking, driven by the demands of the Asian black market, are still at dangerously high levels, as monitored by the CITES MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) program which lists the proportion of illegal killings of elephants (PIKE, Proportion of Illegally Killed Elephants). It is for this reason that the European Union applies very stringent regulations in this area and in December 2021 it further tightened its rules on the ivory trade.

Among the most significant innovations are trade within the EU, export and import for commercial purposes were prohibited, both raw ivory and processed products containing ivory. Despite the international ban on the ivory trade, elephant populations wild in their natural habitats continue to be threatened by unlawful killings and their product is often sold illegally on the black market, as indicated in the latest World Wildlife Crime Report 2020. According to a report by ETIS (Elephant Trade Information System), only in the period between 2012 and 2017 all over the world inIn the context of approximately 8000 seizures, more than 250 tons of elephant ivory were seized.

The offices of Forestry Carabinieri of the CITES Units they are the only ones authorized in our country to issue certifications for re-export and trade of species protected by the Washington Convention (CITES). The Nuclei CITES specialists of the Carabinieri, are responsible for combating trafficking in protected species on the national territory, through the constant control of the territory in the normal institute services and during specific operational control campaigns issued by the CITES Group and aimed at controlling the trade of parts and products derived from protected species.

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