what is the true identity of the ivory queen?

A 66-year-old bespectacled Chinese lady may not be a great many people's concept of an ivory sneaking kingpin, yet that is precisely what Tanzanian examiners say Yang Fenglan is. She is blamed for driving one of Africa's greatest ivory pirating rings, in charge of more than 700 elephant tusks worth $2.5m (£1.7m) unlawfully leaving Tanzania for the Far East. Ms Yang denies all charges and her trial is set to start in Dar es Salaam on Monday. So what do we think about the lady named the "Ivory Ruler" and what precisely would she say she is blamed for? The war on elephants Fruitful businessperson Initially from Beijing, Ms Yang first went to Tanzania in the 1970s. She was one of the principal Chinese understudies to graduate in Swahili and filled in as an interpreter for Tazara, the Tanzania-Zambia Railroad extend that China was financing and assemble. As per China Every day, after the railroad was finished in 1975 she came back to Beijing to work in the administration's outside exchange office. It wasn't until 1998 that she chose to set up business in Tanzania. Actually, she set up two. She leased a two-story working in downtown Dar-es-Salaam, opening a Chinese eatery on the ground floor and building up a speculation organization, Beijing Awesome Divider Venture, on the floor above. The eatery ended up being a win however in 2014 she told China Day by day: "Now I don't rely on the eatery to profit. Rather, I consider it to be a spot where individuals from China and Tanzania can convey, become acquainted with more companions and lead data trades." She has talked about her connection to Tanzania, both physical and enthusiastic. Her little girl is named Fei, the principal character of the word for Africa in Mandarin. By 2012 she was secretary-general of the Tanzania China-Africa Business Gathering. "I know I ought to have resigned, however at whatever point I surmise that my dialect leverage and system can help numerous Chinese and Tanzanians and expansion shared trust and certainty, I would prefer not to stop. I myself am the best delineation of China-Tanzania kinship," she said in 2014. Auto pursue capture However, in the meantime, agents say, Ms Yang was a noteworthy player in a far darker relationship creating amongst Tanzania and China - the illicit ivory exchange. They say she was a key connection between poachers in East Africa and purchasers in China for over 10 years. Tanzania's National and Transnational Genuine Violations Examination Unit followed her for over a year. She was captured after a fast auto pursue in October 2015 and accused of ivory carrying somewhere around 2000 and 2014. Poachers and ivory traffickers are debilitating the very presence of elephants in Focal and East Africa. Tanzania lost more than 60% of its elephants somewhere around 2009 and 2014. The part of Chinese purchasers in this scarcely comes as an astonishment - interest for ivory in China is high in light of its utilization in decorations and even in comprehensive prescription. "Untouchables" More often than not those captured are little time runners - which is the reason Yang Fenglan's capture was invited by natural life bunches. "The news we as a whole have been sitting tight for, for a considerable length of time," Andrea Crosta, prime supporter of the US-based Elephant Activity Alliance, said in October. "We should put a conclusion to the season of the untouchables on the off chance that we need to spare the elephant." The Elephant Activity Class says Ms Yang is "associated with different organizations abroad, all Chinese-claimed, and circles in the more elite classes of Chinese subjects living and working in Tanzania". "When we think about a kingpin, we consider somebody like Al Capone," Mr Crosta said. "In any case, this was somebody who blended with the nation's first class, who mixed in." Ms Yang denies the charges against her. In the event that discovered liable she confronts up to 30 years in prison.