"It began," Dorsey says, "on April 9, when one of our Customs inspectors called Senior Special Agent Scott Chevalier, the Duty Officer that day, and told him Customs had stopped a load of illegal ivory that had come into Los Angeles International Airport from Nigeria. Inspectors targeted the shipment, x-rayed a shipment of furniture, and uncovered whole elephant tusks hidden in the backs of chairs and chair seats. The Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed the ivory was real."

No accident - no coincidence
That first load of ivory was bound for a place called "U Store Hollywood" - a warehouse federal authorities later discovered belonged to a group of African "artists" and importers stockpiling African artifacts and handicrafts. Two days later, on April 11, a second shipment of ivory arrived at LAX. This time, the pieces of ivory were hidden in wooden statues, but the destination was the same "U Store Hollywood." By this time, agents and inspectors from Customs and the Fish and Wildlife Service understood that what they were seeing wasn't just a random or isolated attempt to bring a small amount of ivory into the U.S. - it was a concerted, ongoing campaign to smuggle huge amounts of a banned product into the country for illegal distribution and sale. Customs responded by inaugurating "Operation Loxa" - a name that reflected the genus and species, Loxa Africanus - of the elephants whose welfare federal law enforcement had pledged to protect.

Photo Credit: Melisa Armijo

Customs Senior Special Agent Mary Pipkin and Fish and Wildlife Service Inspector Michael Brown work to remove carved African ivory from a chair seat.

Law enforcement sets up surveillance
Agents and inspectors quickly initiated an intensive surveillance effort at LAX, setting up controlled deliveries and waiting patiently for whoever would eventually show up to claim the 480 pieces of ivory - worth an estimated $375,000 - sitting at LAX. They didn't have to wait long. On April 17, agents arrested Ebrima Mirigo, a Liberian national, and on April 18, Bahoreh Kabba, a citizen of Gambia. The investigation, Special Agent Dorsey points out, involved six separate federal search warrants, just one indicator of the real magnitude of the case. During the execution of the search warrants, 40 additional pounds of ivory was seized by special agents.

Group Supervisor Pamela Caudill, who supervised Dorsey and Chevalier during the investigation, says the case is an important one for many reasons: the ivory that was seized, she notes, was both carved and raw. In many cases, she adds, "The tusks were no longer than 6 to 8 inches, a signal that very young elephant calves were killed to get them." The size of the shipment is also evidence that the international market for illegal ivory is once again on the rise.

Craig Zeigler, Resident Agent-in-Charge at LAX, praised the work of an investigative team that moved quickly and surely to close an important case. "Once again," says Zeigler, "a partnership between federal law enforcement agencies paid off in a very unexpected, but fortunate way."