Bus driver arrested with over 100kg of giant pangolin scales

By a correspondent in Yaounde
Wildlife officials at the Nsimalen Airport arrested a bus driver for illegal possession and circulation of giant pangolin scales at the Nsimalen neighbour on November 11, 2015. The 39-year-old man who left Ebolowa, driving a commercial bus, had loaded the bag full with pangolin scales in the boot of the car and upon arriving at the check-point close to the airport on the Mbalmayo – Yaounde highway, a routine control of passengers was done by law enforcement officials manning the control point. When wildlife officials checked the boot of the car, the bag of pangolin scales was immediately identified.
    The operation that was carried out with assistance from the gendarmerie was technically supported by The Last Great Ape Organisation – LAGA that had carried out preliminary investigations and found out that there was an ongoing illegal transportation of wildlife products from Ebolowa to Yaounde by some commercial bus drivers. The driver was immediately taken away for interrogation and the recording of complaint statements; steps necessary to establish a prosecution. The car was impounded and passengers who were left stranded at the check point boarded other cars to complete their journey to Yaounde.
    The bus belongs to one of the popular travelling agencies that ply the Yaounde – Ebolowa highway and it is believed that the driver had to deliver the contraband to a trafficker in Yaounde. When officials who found the bag that contained the over 100 kg of giant pangolin scales asked to know who owned the bag, the driver in an attempt to evade arrest refused to own up but would later admit to being in possession. 

    This is just the one of several arrests carried out in the country involving giant pangolins scales within the last few years, indicating the scale of the illegal pangolin scales trade. The illegal trade is seriously putting the species’ survival at risk. Spikes in prices of pangolin scales are caused by rising demand in China where it is used in traditional medicine and for many other purposes. In the past, a poached pangolin would be eaten and the scales thrown away but that has shapely changed now and the animal is poached for its scales. In some areas such as Lomie, in the East Region, some residents say many including children know the value of the pangolin scales that has become an important item of trade albeit illegal, in the East and South Regions.
    Giant pangolins are totally protected by the 1994 wildlife law and are listed in Class A which is reserved for species which are in serious threat of extinction in the country. Illegal trade in species belonging to this class seriously undermines their survival and the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, through its effective wildlife law enforcement programme, is fighting the illegal trade to ensure the prosecutions against those who go against this law. The intensification of this fight is an important step towards hampering wildlife trafficking in the country.