Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson has filed the first-ever charges under the Washington Animal Trafficking Act, which became law more than three years ago when voters approved Initiative 1401.
Two people are accused of selling elephant ivory, a practice banned under the law.
On Wednesday, Ferguson spoke during a "Toss the Tusk" event at Woodland Park Zoo. The AG urged people to dispose of items made from endangered animals, which are illegal to sell in Washington state.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife offers a secure and legal way to donate items made from endangered animals. The hope is to eliminate items from the market for trafficked species. The items can then be used for official education programs to combat wildlife trafficking.
The Seattle Times reports WDFW detectives searched the web, sorted through allegedly coded language and conducted an undercover sting to investigate two separate cases of tusk trafficking, according to probable-cause documents.
On Tuesday, Ferguson charged Donald Frank Rooney, in Snohomish County Superior Court, and Yunhua Chen, in King County Superior Court, each with one felony count of unlawful trafficking.
Ferguson says it took law enforcement officials time to figure out exactly how to investigate and prosecute these new crimes, but he thinks Washington state can be a model for others.
In 2015, Washington became the first state in the nation to pass a statewide ban on illegal wildlife trafficking, to help save 10 of the most illegally traded endangered species from extinction.