Court hears of 2 rhino poaching groups

BY 2016, police believed there were two groups behind a spate of rhino killings in the Eastern Cape, says former provincial head of detectives Brigadier Gary McLaren.

McLaren, who has subsequently retired, was testifying in the trial of Jabulani Ndlovu, 40, Forget Ndlovu, 37, and Sikhumbuzo Ndlovu, 38 who are facing 50 charges related to the poaching of 13 rhino throughout the Eastern Cape over the five years.

The three men, who are not related, were arrested following a police raid on the Makana holiday resort chalet they were staying at in June 2016.

Police seized a 10.27kg freshly harvested rhino horn valued at R1million, a bloody saw, .22 dart gun and tranquilliser darts, M99 tranquilliser, cell phones and sim cards. The raid took place within hours of the poaching of a magnificent white rhino from nearby Bucklands Game reserve.

Mclaren, who was giving evidence in a trial-within-a-trial to establish the admissibility of the evidence gathered during the raid – which took place without a search warrant – said a special task team investigating the rhino killings had established there were two rhino poaching groups decimating the rhino populations in the province.

One group used a dart gun and the other used a rifle with live ammunition. The group using the dart gun were later labelled the Ndlovu Group, he said.

Investigating officer Captain Morne Viljoen told the court how an informer had tipped him off that two men had picked up Jabulani at his Lovemore Heights, Port Elizabeth home on June 16 2016 in a white Audi with a CA number plate. Because it was full moon, he immediately suspected they were embarking on a possible rhino hunt.

So-called Operation Full Moon operatives had immediately activated all their investigators and crime intelligence. The Audi was later seen entering the Makana Resort. A perusal of the resort gate register established they had booked into a chalet there.

From then on police tracked the car on and off. It had headed out towards Fort Brown. On the evening of June 17 when it returned with three men, police had entered the Makana resort.

Mclaren testified that as he walked cautiously past the chalet, the door had whipped open. He had got a fright and fearing they had firearms had run towards the chalet with another police officer. They had forced their way in and ordered the men to lie down. The rhino horn poked out of a backpack and the dart gun lay next to it.

He said events had prevented them from seeking a search warrant before entering.

But the men’s lawyer, advocate Terry Price SC, said nothing had prevented them from standing guard at the scene while someone had obtained a search warrant.

Viljoen said they intended asking the consent of the men to search their car and only if consent had been refused would they seek a warrant.

However, events had overtaken their intentions. The trial continues.