Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers on Sunday arrested three men over allegations of dealing in ivory and rhino horns, which goes against to the law.
The three who are traders at the Litein market in Bureti were nabbed by undercover officers in Litein and Kaplong areas.
The officers, who had been dispatched from Nairobi managed to nab Emmanuel Ng'etich, Edi Abdi Kontoma and Mathew Kipkemoi Maritim after a three-month pursuit.
The arrests were confirmed by Sotik sub-county police commander Francis Ng'ang'a who said the officers posed as buyers of the illegal merchandise before nabbing the trio.
The officers began their operation by arresting Ng'etich, who had earlier in the year contacted a KWS officer to help him secure a buyer for the product worth Sh1.6 million.
He then took the officers to Litein where the other suspects and the remainder of the horns were, after which they were arrested and detained at the Sotik Police Station.
It has been established that the horns might have originated from poachers in Maasai Mara Game Reserve.
Poaching remains an illegal operation in Kenya, and has been ranked as the leading cause of reduction of the targeted animals in Kenya, therefore affecting toursims which is a major source of income for Kenya.