Conservationists have argued that lenient wildlife crime laws are attracting poachers to traffic animal trophies through Kenyan because they know that even if they are arrested, the punishment is not severe.

Mbugua said a 55-year-old man holding a Congolese passport was arrested late on Wednesday night and 2.4 kg of worked ivory seized at the airport in Nairobi while on transit from Duala, Cameroon, to Hong Kong aboard a Kenya Airways flight KQ576.

According to Mbugua, preliminary investigation reveals that the Congolese man was hiding worked ivory in his luggage and declared as "personal effects."

"However, it was detected and seized by a joint security team comprising of the Kenya Airports Police Unit, Customs officials, Kenya Airways officials and the KWS," Mbugua said.

The KWS spokesman said two middle-aged suspects are in police custody after they were arrested trafficking 16 pieces of ivory believed to have originated from Mombasa to an unknown destination.

"Two vehicles they were using to ferry the cargo have been impounded and are at Nairobi Area police station. Investigations into these arrests are underway," he said.

KWS has expressed fears of a comeback of the scenes of the 1970s and the 1980s, when poaching was a serious menace and contributed to the depletion of wildlife including elephants, lions and rhinos.

The recovered ivories are displayed in Nairobi, Kenya, June 22, 2012. [File photo/Xinhua]