Police investigating reports of ivory trafficking have executed warrants in Little Thetford.
No arrests were made, but a notice was posted publicly, advising residents that warrants had been executed “at an address in your community”.
The action was carried out yesterday by officers from the Cambridgeshire Rural Crime Action Team (RCAT) in conjunction with the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
The warrants related to Regulation 9 of the Control of Trade in Endangered Species Enforcement Regulations 1997, specifically suspected ivory trafficking.
The notice put up in the village advised residents: “Warrants have today been executed, under Regulation 9 (1) of the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997 (COTES) at an address in your community.
“Crime and Anti-social behaviour of any kind will not be tolerated, and persons committing criminal acts of any kind will be relentlessly pursued.”
Under European law, it’s illegal to sell, keep or buy endangered species such as ivory, unless you can prove that the ivory is antique.
It’s estimated that 20,000 elephants are killed by poachers in Africa each year for their ivory – the equivalent of one elephant every 25 minutes.
The police notice has drawn a lot of speculation on the Little Thetford Facebook group.
