The cargo was seized in the hands of a group of smugglers from Gabon
whose ship crashed in southern Cameroon.
Elements of the 11th Battalion of Fusiliers Marins Campo (BAFUMAR),
supported by elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR coast)
have arrested a group of ivory traffickers in the Atlantic Ocean.
Three well closed canteens stuffed with 41 tusks of ivory of about 210
kg were seized.
According to the commander of the 11th BAFUMAR, Captain Emile
Messomovou, an artisanal craft from Gabon Falls on the high seas ran
dry in the Ebondjé area, a few kilometers from Campo. The ship’s
captain, a Nigerian national, sent his sidekick to buy fuel in the
village. It was discovered that the ship was carrying forty-two
people of various nationalities: two Gambians, two Togolese, and the
rest Nigerians.
Intercepted ivory tusks were identified by the teams of the Ministry
of Forest Economy of Gabon and bore the marks of Gabonese wildlife
services. An investigation was initiated to understand this illegal
trade.