December 3, 2008 Six arrested in ivory smuggling ring Play video

(NECN/ABC) - Six defendants were arrested today in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Texas for conspiring to smuggle ivory of African elephants from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Uganda into the United States.

A criminal complaint charging the defendants was unsealed this morning in Brooklyn Federal Court.

As set forth in the complaint, illegal trade in African elephant ivory is the major cause of the continuing decline of elephant populations in Africa. Importation of ivory into the United States has been criminalized since 1976 when the United States became a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ("CITES").

Since then, Congress has passed the African Elephant Conservation Act, which prohibits importation of raw or worked ivory that was exported from an ivory producing country.

*This video clip provided by ABC shows still photos of confiscated ivory, disguised as other items.