Two foreign nationals from the Democratic Republic of Congo have pleaded guilty in federal court in Seattle for acting as middle men in a smuggling ring that brought illegal ivory, rhinoceros horn and pangolin scales into the U.S.
Cousins Herdade Lokua, 24, and Jospin Mujangi, 32, of Kinshasa, Congo, pleaded guilty to two counts of an 11-count indictment handed up last year alleging they worked with a middle man to facilitate shipments of the poached items into Seattle.
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour set the cousins' sentencing for Nov. 1. Both men face prison terms of up to five years on charges of conspiracy and violations of the Lacey Act, possible fines of up to $250,000 and deportation from the U.S. when their sentences are complete, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the men acknowledged that beginning in November 2019 and continuing through June 2021, they shipped 49 pounds of ivory from Kinshasa, arranging for the tusks to be cut into smaller pieces, painted black, and labeled as imported wood.
In June 2021, they brought in 5 more pounds of rhino horn and discussed a shipment of 4,000 pounds of ivory and a ton of pangolin scales, according to the DOJ.
The men admitted traveling from Congo to Seattle in November 2021 to meet in Edmonds with prospective buyers who were actually undercover federal agents. They were arrested after the meeting and indicted by a Seattle grand jury.
The indictment alleged the shipments were in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora — an international agreement among 183 nations, including the U.S. and Congo, aimed at protecting plants and animals threatened with extinction. The Lacey Act prohibits trafficking endangered wildlife or mislabeling shipments containing wildlife.
An undercover federal agent paid the men $14,500 for the ivory and $18,000 for the rhino horn, according to the indictment.
Officials have said Washington has been a hub for smuggling illegal animal parts because, in part, of its location as a travel hub on the West Coast and its proximity to Asia, where the demand for such items is high.
In all, the indictment alleges the men facilitated the smuggling of four packages containing a total of 49 pounds of ivory from endangered African elephants and 5 pounds of horn from the African white rhinoceros, also listed as an endangered species.
An additional $3.5 million worth of ivory, rhino horns and pangolin scales was seized in Congo, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The two men were allegedly in talks to smuggle pangolin scales into the U.S., the indictment alleges.
The DOJ said Wednesday that the arrests were part of "Operation Kuluna," an international cooperative investigation between Homeland Security, the Congolese government and U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa.
