Guinean Authorities Apprehend The Biggest Trafficker Of Monkeys In Africa

Abdourahamane Sidibe in the hands of the police in Conakry. Image source: Alwihda Info

The notorious primate trafficker has been on the run since his conviction in 2015. Abdourahamane Sidibe was sentenced in absentia to 5 years' imprisonment following the trial which found him guilty of trafficking in many protected species including 130 chimpanzees and 18 Gorillas that he illegally shipped to China and other countries.

Alwihda Info report continues:

The trafficker against whom an international arrest warrant was issued was apprehended in Guinea following an operation that was carried out with the technical assistance of the project to support the application of the Guinean wildlife law, known “GALF” name which is member of the EAGLE (Eco Activists for Governance and Law Enforcement) network. Interpol and the Guinean authorities have been working for two years to trap the fugitive. During his period of trafficking, he had set up a system of corruption with the former director of the office of the Guinea CITES, Ansoumane Doumbouya, who fraudulently produced CITES permits to facilitate the illegal export of these animals.

In 2015, Doumbouya was arrested and sent to prison. CITES, also known as the Washington Convention, regulates international trade in protected wildlife. Thus, each member country must issue permits for the export of wildlife.

Large-Scale Arrests

Abdourahamane Sidibe has led the largest network of live animals trafficking on the continent and has illegally exported wildlife from West Africa to other countries around the world during the last thirty years, accumulating much wealth on the way. The network includes members of the family. His son Abdul Salam was also sentenced to five years' imprisonment.

Before his conviction in 2015, follow-up surveys of his activities took five years to complete, and since then he was constantly on the move, living outside Guinea, in many African and Asian countries. It took the combined effort of Interpol and GALF to arrive at his arrest. GALF is the project to support the implementation of the Guinean wildlife law which assists the Guinean authorities in the application of the faunal law.

Developed as a replication project of the LAGA model, which began in Cameroon to help wildlife officials, GALF is also a member of the EAGLE network, which groups together projects operating on the same model in Africa. The model is operational in eight other African countries including Cameroon.

It should be remembered that the GALF project which is six years old today is headed by Charlotte Houpline. The latter said after Sidibe's arrest that "for six years now we have been working hard with the Guinean authorities to put behind the bars the biggest traffickers and corrupt officials who help them. But there is still much to be done. “Nevertheless, this seems to be on track, as many other countries within the EAGLE network are making large-scale arrests.

Two Chinese nationals were arrested in Cameroon in January with 5.4 tons of pangolin scales that were ready for illegal export to China. In addition, a few days ago, three people were arrested with one tonne of ivory in Uganda, a member country of the EAGLE network.

Guinea Arrests Notorious Chimpanzee Trafficker

Smuggling endangered chimpanzees is a lucrative trade. BBC

BBC Africa Live reports that a notorious wildlife smuggler who has been on the run for four years has been arrested in Guinea. 

Abdourahamane Sidibe is accused of selling thousands of live animals, including endangered chimpanzees for more than 30 years.

A non-governmental organization, Eco Activists for Governance and Law Enforcement (EAGLE), first began tracking him in 2013 when it learned he was seeking to sell a live manatee for about US$50,000 (£40,000), Reuters news agency reports.

According the French-language Africa news site Alwihda Info, his network includes members of his family – his son was sent to prison for trafficking in 2015.

Sidibe was also sentenced in his absence that year for trafficking 130 chimpanzees and 18 gorillas to China and other countries.

Guinea, a former French colony, is a major wildlife trafficking hub in West Africa with ivory, skins and shark fins, as well as live mammals regularly sold internationally by criminal groups, Reuters says.