Authorities in Chad have arrested the suspected ringleader of the gang that carried out one of the worst elephant slaughters in Africa’s recent history.

In March, poachers on horseback slaughtered more than 89 elephants, including more than 30 pregnant mares.  (Warning, graphic pictures will make you sad)

The suspect is Idriss Hassan, and he was caught transporting 124 elephant tusks in the village of Gore, near the border with neighboring Central African Republic.  Authorities believe he ran a ring of some 50 poachers who are behind the slaughter of nearly 200 elephants since August 2012, including an incident where five wildlife rangers were killed.

“Idriss Hassan has operated since 2011 in the Salamat and Guera regions and near the borders between Chad, Cameroon and Central African Republic,” said Chad’s Environment Minister Mahamat Issa Halikimi.

The United Nations Environment Program said this year that more African elephants are being illegally slaughtered for their ivory than are being born each year, and it’s driven by demand for ivory in East Asia, including Thailand, the Philippines, and China. Recent research has estimated that poachers have killed 60 percent of the world’s forest elephants in the last decade alone.