-Edited by Bev Mortimer- The selling of critically endangered pangolins continues as more men were arrested yesterday for being in possession of a pangolin they were also trying to sell in Mahikeng.
Another pangolin rescued from alleged sellers of pangolins yesterday, 2 June.
This follows the arrest in the same week week of four men, aged 29-45, who were cornered and arrested on 30 May at Mahikeng shopping mall, after being found in possession of endangered pangolins. The pangolins were taken to a Wildlife Veterinary Hospital.
The Hawks yesterday, arrested another four men aged between 43 and 59, near Vryburg on 2 June 2023, after being found in possession of a pangolin.
It is alleged the suspects were headed to Mahikeng to meet a buyer for a pangolin they were selling for R60k, when they were stopped by members of the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation and members of SAPS Tactical Response Team along the Vryburg Road.
In the boot of the vehicle the men were in, the team found a bag containing a pangolin. The vehicle was seized for further investigation and the pangolin was handed over to members of Nature Conservation.
The suspects will appear before Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court on 5 June for contravention of the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004.
Meanwhile, the case against previous the four men, named in court as Teboho Kodwa (28), Deon Mubhada (33) Kabelo Batsi (36) and Lesego Siana (45), who were arrested in possession of two Pangolins in Mahikeng, was adjourned to 6 June.
Read previous arrest and confiscation of pangolins , with photos:
https://stfrancischronicle.com/2023/06/01/men-seized-by-cops-for-selling-pangolins/
St Francis Chronicle 