
The arrests were the first of their kind in the African nation since it passed a wildlife protection law in the 1980s, said Ofir Drori, director of the Cameroon-based group The Last Great Ape which announced the arrests with WWF.
One woman had 157 ivory objects weighing more than 200 kilogrammes in her home in Bangui, the groups said in a statement.
The other trafficker was detained in a Bangui hotel Friday as he was "trying to sell 14 ivory objects, hippopotamus teeth and a panther skin," said the statement.
The two could face up to a year in jail if found guilty.
"They had several decades of experience between them and were said to be at the centre of an international ivory trafficking network," the statement said.
Illegal poaching threatens the elephant with extinction, animal protection groups say, despite the ivory trade being banned by a 1989 international agreement.
Experts say some 38,000 African elephants are killed each year for their tusks.

This three-day meeting brought together 72 international experts in cetacean biology, oceanography, biodiversity, conservation and climate to discuss the current status of cetacean and other marine populations in the eastern tropical Pacific and to assess their vulnerability and adaptation options to climate change in the region.
This is the first effort in the region to collate oceanographic and climate knowledge in the context of vulnerabilities and adaptation options for marine organisms. Although it did not aspire to be comprehensive, it will serve as a platform to stimulate further regional work towards adaptation of marine habitats to climate change.
Hoffman, JR, Fonseca, A, and C Drews (eds). 2009. Cetaceans and Other Marine Biodiversity of the Eastern Tropical Pacific: Options for Adapting to Climate Change. Report from a workshop held February 9-11, 2009. MINAET/WWF/EcoAdapt/CI/IFAW/TNC/WDCS/IAI/PROMAR, San Jose, Costa Rica. ISBN: 978-9968-825-37-5