Rhino task team notches up success

ARRESTS: 365 SUSPECTED POACHERS IN SIX MONTHS

Another 15 nabbed in Mpumalanga this week, say police.

The SA Police Service’s Operation Rhino 9 Task Team, responsible for combatting poaching, announced yesterday it had caught 365 rhino poachers in the past six months.

“An additional 15 suspects, aged between 33 and 50 years, were arrested in the past week in Mpumalanga,” police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said.

“Four unlicensed firearms and ammunition were seized.”

Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has not given out any poaching statistics so far this year.

According to Naidoo, the task team secured a wide variety of sentences, from the maximum of nine years’ imprisonment to three months’ imprisonment with the option of paying a R1 500 fine.

“Of the 365 suspects, 165 remain in custody while facing court processes, six were deported to their native countries, 11 received fines and 57 are serving their various jail terms,” said Naidoo.

“These convictions are evidence of the commitment of law enforcement agencies and game reserves to preserve endangered species for future generations.”

He noted the remaining suspects had appeared in various courts on charges of unlawful possession of firearm/s, unlawful possession of ammunition, possession of dangerous weapon/s, trespassing, hunting of protected animal, kidnapping, assault, possession of the remains of a wild animal, possession of suspected stolen property and being in the country illegally.

“Axes, tog bags, cellphones, and other incriminating evidence were also seized during the arrests,” Naidoo said. –