Page 23 - EIA Report on Tanzanian African Ivory Smuggling 2014 report

The Mwenge Market Hub
The Mwenge Carvers’ Market in Dar es Salaam is a popular place
for visitors seeking handicrafts such as wooden carvings and
traditional tinga tinga paintings. It is also an important hub for
ivory trading, despite repeatedly being exposed in the national
and international media.65
During an undercover visit to the market in 2006, EIA investigators
were offered carved ivory pieces and raw tusks by several traders
operating out of Mwenge, with the main source said to be the
Selous and northern Mozambique. On a return visit in September
2014, EIA found that the trade had gone underground, with traders
more circumspect than before and no ivory pieces offered for sale
in the market.
This atmosphere appeared to be prompted by recent enforcement
activity in the market and elsewhere in Dar es Salaam. Undercover
police from outside the area had arrested two traders based at the
market who offered ivory products.
Despite the air of caution, EIA investigators learned that Mwenge
remains an important location for ivory buyers and sellers to make
contact. Meetings are then arranged at other locations to discuss
amounts, prices and delivery.
A tight-knit group of traders dominates the ivory business out of
Mwenge. The four individuals – Novatus “Nova” Chikawe, Paulo
Gavana, Deus Mbopo and Roberto – are all from the Makonde tribe,
hailing from a region spanning southern Tanzania and northern
Mozambique. The group has been active in the market since 2006
and is protected by connections with officers from the local police
station. Its connections to southern Tanzania assist in procuring
ivory from the region. Nova is the leader of the group and brags of
selling ivory to people from the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania,
while Deus oversees contacts with the local police.
In September 2014, EIA undercover investigators met with Paulo at
a hotel outside the Mwenge area. Paulo was accompanied by a man
State visit by China’s
President to Dar es
Salaam, March 2013.
© Reuters
called Suleiman, whom he introduced as his cousin. While Paulo
described his main business as ebony carvings, Suleiman runs a
freight forwarding service. Both admitted to being involved in the
ivory trade but said activities were now carried out more
discreetly due to recent enforcement operations and they were
currently just selling locally rather than arranging export. During
discussions about exporting contraband out of Dar es Salaam port,
Suleiman spoke of the importance of having reliable connections
with customs officers to avoid any problems and acknowledged
that the increased use of cargo scanners at the port had made
smuggling more difficult. Paulo claimed that one of three Chinese
arrested at the Mikocheni house, Huang Gin, had been a regular
buyer of ivory at the market.
They both related how ivory sales by Mwenge-based traders
boomed when a large entourage arrived during a visit to Tanzania
by the Chinese President Xi Jinping in March 2013. The large
Chinese Government and business delegation on the visit used the
opportunity to procure such a large amount of ivory that local
prices increased. The two traders claimed that a fortnight before
the state visit, Chinese buyers began purchasing thousands of
kilos of ivory, later sent to China in diplomatic bags on the
presidential plane.
Suleiman said: “The price was very high because the demand was
high. When the guest come, the whole delegation, that’s then time
when the business goes up.” He added that the price per kilo in
the market doubled to US$700 during the visit.
A similar claim was made by another Mwenge dealer speaking to
undercover reporters in 2010 about the entourage during a visit by
the previous Chinese President in February 2009: “You know when
the president of China Hu Jintao was coming to Tanzania? They
come to take many things. But that was not for Hu Jintao, it was
the whole group. Then they go direct to the airport, because VIP
no-one checks your bags.”66 As far back as 2006, EIA investigators
were told by Mwenge suppliers that Chinese Embassy staff were
the major buyers of their ivory.
Mwenge Market:
long-standing ivory trading
hub in Dar es Salaam.
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