A suspected Togolese ivory smuggler1 has been arrested in the capital, Lome.
多哥一名象牙走私嫌疑犯在首都洛美被捕。
He was detained after 700kg of ivory was found at his shop by an anti-trafficking
squad2.
The BBC's Blame Ekoue says Mr N'bouke, known as "The Boss" in Lome, is considered by security agents to be a "kingpin（主要人物）" in Togo's ivory trade.
But Mr N'bouke denied any involvement in exporting illegal ivory and said he dealt in bone
ornaments3.
Our reporter says Togo has recently become a
transit4 point for ivory
dealers5, who have begun to use Lome's harbour after finding access to other West African ports difficult.
Akoumassou Totchikpa, the head of Togo's
Forestry6 and
Fauna7 Commission, says most of the trafficked ivory comes from the West African sub-region, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
In July, customs officials in Hong Kong seized more than two tonnes of elephant
tusks8 worth $2.2m hidden in
cargo9 from Togo.
They said it was their largest
seizure10 since 2010, and was likely to have come from baby elephants.
Togo has only 60 elephants living in protected national parks, our reporter says.
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