The United States on Wednesday imposed economic sanctions on two men accused of using the illegal ivory trade to funnel weapons and money to the Lord's Resistance Army.
Washington blacklisted Kony and his rebel group last year, accusing them of targeting civilians in the Central African Republic.
"Treasury will continue to target armed groups such as the Lord's Resistance Army and their support networks that rely on the global ivory trade and wildlife trafficking to finance their violent campaigns," John Smith, who administers the Treasury Department's sanctions office, said in a statement.
He said that The United States received assistance from Sudanese and Ugandan authorities in the effort.
The sanctioned individuals are Okut Lukwang, a Ugandan serving as an LRA intelligence officer, and Musa Hatari, a Sudanese merchant, according the Treasury.
The US-based organization, Enough Project, praised the step and called for broader actions on ivory trafficking networks, corrupt officials in South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda in order to impact Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army and “rampant” poaching of endangered elephants in the region.
Sasha Lezhnev, Deputy Director of Policy at the Enough Project, said: “The U.S. sanctions are an important step and will make it harder for international ivory traffickers to buy from the LRA and their traders. Elephant poaching and ivory smuggling is still rampant in Congo and the region, however, and the U.S. should follow up with sanctions on the networks of South Sudanese, Sudanese, and Ugandan traffickers and the officials they work with to move the ivory. Those countries in the middle of the ivory trafficking chain act as critical hubs, and their corrupt activities must be shut down."
Meanwhile Holly Dranginis, Senior Analyst at The Sentry, Enough’s investigative initiative, said: "Since its inception, the Lord’s Resistance Army has seized on regional instability and porous borders to wreak havoc on civilians. Its participation in trafficking cartels amidst Central African Republic's ongoing conflict is the latest in that long line of opportunism and predation. These U.S. sanctions designations show the possibility of countering such fluid, dangerous networks. But they must come as part of a comprehensive strategy not limited to ad hoc designations. Banks and law enforcement in the region should also take progressive action, making it more costly to poach wildlife, traffic it across borders, and launder the profits."