A Ugandan national has been arrested in Kampala by Uganda Wildlife Authority officials following the smashing of a tortoise smuggling ring, which is believed to have been exporting live tortoise to Bankok, Thailand.

Fast forward: On the 6th of August, this year, officials of the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, alerted Kenya Wildlife Service security officials of a consignment of luggage that was suspicious.

On the same day, KWS dispatched a team of security and veterinary officials to inspect the unaccompanied luggage and make recommendations as to what cause of action should be taken.

“When we arrived at the JKIA we were shocked at the horrible sight before us. 17 metal boxes had been loaded with two different species of tortoise ranging in size and age,” Joseph Sarara an investigating officer with the Kenya Wildlife Service revealed.

According to Sarara, “The veterinary official, who tipped us, noted that what made him suspicious of the luggage was the fact that from the metal boxes, he could hear funny sounds and the trickling of water like substance.

“His queries into the matter and insistence that one of them be opened so as to ascertain the contents therein, is what saved the tortoises from landing in Bangkok, where they were fated to go, Sarara reveals.

When the 17 boxes were finally opened, they revealed a cache of 228 live tortoises ranging form three months old to over ten years and, though put in poorly ventilated and light aluminum boxes, all the tortoises were alive.

“It is at this point, that KWS called for reinforcement from our counterparts in the Lusaka Agreement Task Force,” a candid Sarara intimates.

According to the investigating officer, “We perused the papers, and we established that they had several anomalies and because it was an issue that involved a neighboring country, LATF would handle the matter even better, and indeed, immediately they faxed the letters to Uganda, their action opened a can of worms, leading to the arrest of Smith Ewa of the Uganda America Pet Exchange Limited and some of his accomplices by the Uganda Wildlife Authority officer.”

Investigation into the matter in still ongoing and KWS is optimistic that this illegal wildlife smuggling ring will be smashed and all the culprits brought to book.

In the meantime, all the 228 tortoises confiscated at the JKIA, are currently under the care and observation of the Senior Warden, Nairobi Animal Orphanage, pending more information and direction from Uganda Wildlife Authority officials on the way forward.