A Chinese woman identified as Chen Biemei has been sent to prison for two years and seven months for attempting to smuggle 6.9 kg of ivory out of Kenya.
Chen was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on August 14, 2013. She tried to disguise the ivory trinkets as macadamia nuts in order to smuggle the contraband to Hong Kong on Kenya Airways Flight KQ 862, according to Kenya Wildlife Service.
“Biemei pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to serve eight months for being in possession of ivory, 15 months for dealing in ivory and eight months for failing to make a report to wildlife authorities of being in possession of the ivory without an option of fine.”
Chen will be serving her sentence at Lang’ata Women’s Prison, Kenya’s largest female maximum-security facility, located on the outskirts of Nairobi.
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Rhishja Cota
I am the founder of Annamiticus and I have been researching and writing about wildlife trafficking issues since 2009. I also founded World Pangolin Day in 2012. I am the author of USAID Wildlife Asia's Pangolin Species Identification Guide: A Rapid Assessment Tool for Field and Desk. I co-facilitated and was a presenter at the USAID Wildlife Asia Pangolin Care Workshop. At the 4th Regional Dialogue on Combating Trafficking of Wild Fauna and Flora, I facilitated the species roundtables on pangolins. I have trekked with forest rangers in Cambodia, journeyed to the streets of Hanoi to research the illegal wildlife trade, and to the rainforests of Sumatra and Java to document the world’s rarest rhinos. At CITES meetings, I collaborate with colleagues from around the world to lobby in favor of protecting endangered species. I hosted the Behind the Schemes podcast and am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine. I enjoy music, desert gardening, herping, reading, creating, and walking with my dogs. Check out my t-shirts and stickers at snoots + teefers.