2006 Ivory Coast toxic waste dump breaking Côte d'Ivoire's laws against poisoning. There were several reported attacks of the two executives during their imprisonment. Trafigura called for their immediate release, but this did not occur until a settlement for the cleanup was paid to the Ivorian government. Seven Ivorians were eventually brought to trial in Abidjan for their part in the dumping. The head of the Ivorian contractor who dumped more than 500 tonnes of toxic liquid was sentenced to 20 years in prison in November 2008. A November 2006 Ivorian government report into the incident said that Trafigura was to blame for the dumping of
History of Ivory Coast areas northward from the West African coast. Ivory Coast, like the rest of West Africa, was subject to these influences, but the absence of sheltered harbors along its coastline prevented Europeans from establishing permanent trading posts. Seaborne trade, therefore, was irregular and played only a minor role in the penetration and eventual conquest by Europeans of Ivory Coast. The slave trade, in particular, had little effect on the peoples of Ivory Coast. A profitable trade in ivory, which gave the area its name, was carried out during the seventeenth century, but it brought about such a decline in elephants that