Raid, arrests break elephant smuggling ring

Indian police have uncovered what they say is a transnational elephant-smuggling ring - highlighting a new threat to one of the country's most revered animals.

Officers in the northeastern state of Assam said they arrested five people and recovered three elephants - two of them calves - that were destined to be illegally trucked across the country and even abroad.

Police said that documents gathered during the raid suggested the ring had been responsible for smuggling almost 100 elephants over the past five years. The elephants can sell for up to $100,000.

Elephants are protected under a 1972 law and the sale of the animals is illegal. Even transporting one across state boundaries requires documents and the permission of the chief wildlife officer.

But reports suggest that, having been captured, drugged and even whipped into submission, elephants are trafficked in much the same way as people, with fake documents being prepared and bribes being paid to officials.

Police in Assam arrested the five suspects after being contacted by a local wildlife protection group, the Green Heart Nature Club.

The group's director, Bablu Dey, said: "Over five years, this group is believed to be responsible for smuggling at least 92 elephants. These animals are captured from across the northeast and then brought to Assam. We think many elephants are being held in remote villages before being smuggled."

Dey added that the illegal trade was driven largely by wealthy businessmen in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who wanted to keep the animals as status symbols. He said there was evidence the animals were also smuggled outside of India, with some being trucked into Nepal and Myanmar.

The superintendent of police in the western Assamese district of Kokrajhar, P.K. Dutta, said he believed the ring might have been trying to smuggle as many as 10 elephants when it was caught. It is not known what happened to the seven animals not recovered.

It is estimated that there are 26,000 Asian elephants in India, of which 3500 are working animals.

- INDEPENDENT