UPDATE - September 20: Submitted by Capt Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi
Target number seven, who was on the run, has been arrested this morning - Acornhoek Stock Theft Unit Female Constable Rachel Qwebana (33). She handed herself over to the arresting team this morning at Hazyview. She will appear in Hazyview Magistrate today.

UPDATE - September 19: Submitted by Capt Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi
The names of the suspects who appeared at White River Magistrate Court are:
Petros Sydney Mabuza (53) Kingpin Mshengu
Lubisi Claude (33) Former police Constable at Calcutta SAPS
Clyde Mnisi (33) Kingpin
Phinias Lubisi (40) Police Captain and former Station Commander of Skukuza Police Station
Joseph Nyalunga (Big Joe) (33) Former police Warrant Officer at White River Police Station (Kingpin)
6. Arettah Mhlanga (40) Police Constable at Skukuza Police Station
The case has been postponed to September 27 for formal bail application

MBOMBELA - September 19 - Six key syndicate members implicated in a massive trafficking network of poached rhino horn, were arrested at various locations in Mpumalanga yesterday.

The arrests were executed by the Hawks, in collaboration with Counter Intelligence, the Special Task Force, SAPS Forensic Science Services, SANParks, the Department of Environmental Affairs, SARS and Customs, as well as the National Prosecuting Authority.

During the swoop, law officials confiscated luxury vehicles and motorbikes, trucks, an undisclosed amount of money, animal skins, property, and a huge number of suspected stolen items including trailers, generators and electronic equipment, to name but a few. The seized items are valued at millions of rand.

The suspects, aged between 30 and 56, include two alleged syndicate leaders, a right-hand man, two police officers and a former police officer.

They are expected to appear in the White River Magistrate’s Court this afternoon on charges of theft, conspiracy to commit a crime, the illegal trade of rhino horns, corruption and money laundering.

Internal disciplinary processes have already been instituted against the arrested police officers.  

This significant breakthrough is the result of an investigative initiative named Project Broadbill, by the Wildlife Trafficking Section of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, which commenced in January last year.

The project focuses on the criminal supply chain of poached rhino horn within the Kruger National Park, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and other private or state-owned reserves. The syndicate members operated poaching syndicates with the support of corrupt police officials, as well as personnel of these private game farms.

The areas in control of the alleged syndicate include traditional trust areas such as Cork, Belfast, Mkhuhlu, Calcutta and Shabalala Trust in the Hazyview and Mbombela magisterial districts in Mpumalanga. The criminal operations were well planned and allegedly executed with para-military discipline, and included counter-intelligence operations to prevent detection.

The logistical, transport and communication support of this criminal syndicate were extremely well managed and controlled, to the extent that the suspects succeeded in moving the rhino horns from the protected areas to the locations where the transactions allegedly took place.  These illegal transactions were also protected by alleged corrupt officials to ensure any detection by law-enforcement authorities.

The horns were allegedly sold to the highest bidder on the black market in Gauteng, from where they were distributed to South East Asian markets.

Meanwhile, the National Head of the DPCI, Lt Gen Godfrey Lebeya, has lauded the collaborative action as a huge success in the fight against the rhino poaching scourge in the country.
“We are often tasked with gathering the remains of endangered species without finding and arresting the poachers and traffickers responsible for these crimes. The success of this operation bodes well for the preservation efforts of rhinos and other endangered species, and we are fully committed to eradicating poaching and trafficking.”

“We will continue teaming up with key law-enforcement partners and government departments in carrying out crucial investigations and arresting those behind the slaughter of our wildlife,” Lebeya concluded.

Project Broadbill is still ongoing, and more seizures and arrests are expected.

Submitted by: Capt Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi
Editor: Anchen Coetzee
Subeditor: Lynette Brink