Cousins Indicted After Allegedly Smuggling Elephant Ivory And Rhino Horns Into Seattle

SEATTLE (AP) – Two foreign nationals from the Democratic Republic of Congo were arrested near Seattle and indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and money laundering charges for allegedly smuggling elephant ivory and rhino horns.

The Seattle Times reports court documents say Herdade Lokua and his cousin Jospin Mujangi are accused of working with an “unindicted co-conspirator” to facilitate four shipments of the poached items into Seattle in August, September and May of 2020. B

oth men were arrested Nov. 2 when they arrived in Edmonds to negotiate further shipments, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security.

On Thursday in U.S. District Court, they pleaded not guilty to the charges.