SOUTH AFRICA: Rhino Poacher Shot Another Arrested

A special intelligence led joint operation was conducted at a Game Reserve near Hoedspruit, composed of various Police Units including the K9 Unit, the Rhino 8 Unit, Anti poaching Unit, the Endangered Species Unit and the Private Security.

The Police were informed that there is a group of rhino poachers who were en route to this Game Reserve for rhino poaching and they waited for their arrival.

Within a short space of time, the alleged poachers arrived and when they were stopped, they did not corporate until they started shooting at these law enforcement teams who in turn retaliated.

During this process, one suspect was fatally shot, the second sustained serious injuries and the third escaped and disappeared in the bushes but he is still being followed.

During the cross fire, no police officer or private security member was injured.

The following items were recovered during this incident, a 458 hunting rifle with a silencer, ten rifle ammunition, and two knives.

The 35 year old suspect from Shabalala Trust near Hazyview in the Mpumalanga Province, will appear before the Hoedspruit Magistrates’ Court on Monday 16 October 2017.



Tourism Observer

TANZANIA: Four Chinese Smugglers Appear In Court Over Sh900 Million Smuggled Rhino Horns

Four Chinese nationals who were arrested a fortnight ago with 11 rhino horns were yesterday charged in Mbeya with economic sabotage.

Mr Song Leo, 33, Xiao Shaodan, 29, Chen Jianlin, 34 and Hu Liang, 30, were arrested on November 16 at the Tanzania-Malawi border post of Kasumulu in Kyela District hiding the horns worth over Sh900 million in a car they were driving from Malawi.

At least 11 rhinos would have been killed to gather that number of horns seized with the Chinese. The haul is the largest ever in Tanzania's history of fighting poaching.

State lawyers Achiles Mulisa and Simon Wankyo told Mbeya Resident Magistrate's Court that the accused committed an economic sabotage offence and asked the court to deny them bail.

He alleged that the four conspired to smuggle the horns into Tanzania without a permit from authorities. They are also charged with organised crime including collecting and possessing government trophies without licencing from authorities, according to the prosecution. The case against the four Chinese, who have denied the charge, will be heard for two consecutive days starting today.

This came after Mr Mulisa informed the court that investigations into the case has been completed and asked resident Magistrate Michael Mteite to start hearing the case today.

Following the prayer, the lawyer defending the Chinese, Ladslaus Lwekaza asked the court to grant his clients bail, arguing that the offences they were facing were bailable under Tanzanian laws.

The argument was strongly opposed by Mr Mulisa and Wankyo who gave several reasons why the court should deny the accused bail.

They argued that Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had filed a certificate to ask the court not to grant bail to the accused due to the gravity of the offence and the fact that the defendants are not Tanzanian citizens.

Magistrate Mteite sided with prosecution to reject the bail application and the accused were remanded in custody.

The arrest of the rhino horn smugglers could be pointing to a resurgent of Chinese interest in a business that has proved lucrative for south-east Asian criminals.

Statistics shows that in the 1960s, there were roughly 100,000 black rhinos in Africa. By the time China imposed its ban on trade in 1993, those numbers had fallen as a result of rampant poaching to just over 2,000.

More than 4,000 rhino horns, about 12 tonnes worth, are believed to have been smuggled out of Africa between 2009 and 2012.