The sleuths on Friday recovered wildlife trophies worth over Sh5 million in Taita Taveta County.
According to the police, the suspect identified as Bakari Barisa was arrested during the operation.
The DCI said that the intelligence operation that was conducted by a joint team of Serious Crimes detectives and their counterparts from the elite Crime Research & Intelligence Bureau, the 40-year-old man was seized in Taveta township.
The suspect was trading in pangolin scales worth Sh5 million, and elephant tusks with a street value of Sh400,000.
Posing as well-oiled unscrupulous businessmen who rule the underworld, the sleuths led the man to his waterloo before pouncing on him.
The Pangolin scales which fetch a fortune in the black market are used for spiritual protection and financial rituals, making the mammal one of the most trafficked in the world.
The suspect has since been whisked to our headquarters where he is being grilled before arraignment.