The suspect, identified by the initials AF, 39, was caught at a bridge in the village by a joint team of personnel from the Gayo Lues police and Mount Leuser National Park (TNGL)-Blangkejeren Office, the chief of Gayo Lues Police, Adjunct Sen. Coms. Setiyawan Eko Prasetya, said on Wednesday.
During the raid, police officers and park rangers also seized two elephant tusks from AF, he said. AF was trying to sell them to a buyer identified as MA, he added.
The hunt for MA, who escaped after jumping into the river from the village bridge, is still on, Prasetya said.
On April 25, the Aceh police arrested two ivory traders at Kota Mini market in Mutiara Timur, Pidie district.
The suspects, identified as MD, 50, and BSR, 30, were arrested after local cops received a tip from residents about the illegal elephant ivory trade.
The Indonesian government has listed Sumatran elephants as critically endangered mammals. According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the animal's population is estimated to be about 2,400–2,800 individuals.
The WWF has pointed out that ivory can still be found in markets around Africa and Asia, as well as in the United States and Europe.
The organization has also noted that poaching for the illegal ivory trade remains a serious threat to the lives of wild elephants in several countries.
"African elephants declined in massive numbers in the 1970s and 1980s because of poaching for the illegal ivory trade. So, international trade was banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1989," the WWF states on its website.
It adds that "some elephant populations have begun to recover, but poaching continues to be a problem in many areas."
According to a report published in the Journal of African Elephants on July 9, 2020, the ivory trade is rampant on social media platforms in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The report said that Indonesia and Vietnam lack adequate legislation to curb such illegal trade.
Related news: Two ivory traders arrested in Aceh's Pidie District
Related news: Riau police arrest two suspects over killing of Sumatran elephant
Translator: TD Iskandar, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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