Three suspects are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court in the Free State on charges of possession of endangered species

The suspects, aged 31, 35, and 36, are from Kuruman. 

The provincial police spokesperson, Sergeant Sinah Mpakane, said the suspects were arrested on Tuesday, February 10.

“At about 7am, Bloemfontein Public Order Policing (POP) members of platoon 12 were on duty under the command of Sergeant Magano, busy with crime prevention duties around the vicinity of Mangaung.

“The team then received intelligence-driven information from a member of security Intelligence together with Destea’s Deputy Director Leepile MacDonald Garekwe, about information on illegal trading of endangered species (pangolin),” Mpakane said. 

Police followed up on the information and found the suspects as they were driving from the Northern Cape to a well-known shop in Bloemfontein on the N8 national road to do a transaction with a buyer. 

The buyer is a foreign national. 

According to police, the buyer allegedly had R750,000 for the deal. 

“The suspects arrived at the said location in a White Toyota Quantum Minibus, which was also confiscated as part of the evidence used in the commission of the crime. The members tactically accosted the suspects and recovered the endangered species known as the pangolin unharmed,” Mpakane said. 

Pangolins’ meat is used as a delicacy, and their scales, which are falsely believed to have medicinal properties for purposes of lactation, arthritis, and cancer, among other things. Pangolins are believed to be the world’s most trafficked mammal.

“The three suspects are facing a charge of carrying out a restricted activity without a permit in terms of Section 57(1) of South Africa’s National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) 10 of 2004, and possession of pangolin without a permit,” Mpakane said. 

robin.francke@iol.co.za

IOL

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