Kenya jails Chinese ivory smuggler A KENYAN court has sentenced a Chinese ivory smuggler to 31 months in prison, signalling harsher penalties for wildlife crimes. Chen Biemei was arrested on August 14 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital Nairobi with 6.9kg of ivory. She pleaded guilty after initially denying the charges. The sentence, delivered on Thursday, sends "a signal to people wishing to commit wildlife crimes to think twice," Kenya Wildlife Society spokesperson Paul Mbugua told DPA. In June, US army colonel David McNevin was caught at Nairobi airport with about 1kg of ivory and fined $US340 ($A380), which caused a public outcry against weak penalties for traffickers. Elephant ivory can sell for as much as $US1000 per kg. This year alone, about 200 elephants were slaughtered in Kenya for their tusks.