Three Wildlife Traffickers Arrested in Dimako

By a correspondent in Dimako

Three people were arrested on 9 February 2016 in Dimako in the East Region for trafficking in protected wildlife species. The suspected traffickers had attempted to sell the wildlife products and fell into the dragnet of wildlife officials. The operation was carried out by the Chief of Forestry and Wildlife Control Post in collaboration with the Gendarmerie Brigade in Dimako and with technical assistance from the Last Great Ape Organisation – LAGA. Five chimpanzee skulls, four gorilla skulls and a live crocodile were recovered from the three traffickers who are presently behind bars.
    The arrests came just hours after Nigerian  was arrested   in Bertoua in the East Region for illegal possession and commercialization of elephant ivory tusks and pangolin scales. Five bags of wildlife products including 12 ivory tusks and over 200 kg of giant pangolin scales were recovered from the 43 year-old man who was arrested during an operation carried out by officials of the East Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife in collaboration with the Gendarmerie

The arrests were carried out within the framework of the convention between the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and The Last Great Ape Organisation (LAGA) that has so far produced three high profile operations within the last two months including the arrest of three scammers in Douala. The scammers were arrested as they tried to carry out a scamming deal that involved the sale of two lion and two cheetah cubs.
    During the operation in Dimako, the three, it seems had obtained the products from poachers quite close to a logging company in the area. This is just another operation involving ape skulls and gives an idea of the magnitude of the killing of apes in the forests around the country. Last year alone and within the framework of operations carried out by the Ministry  with the technical assistance of LAGA, over 80 gorilla and chimpanzee skulls were recovered from some 28 wildlife traffickers. This presents a worrying picture of the scale of massacre of great apes especially in the four regions of the country where the operations occurred namely; the Littoral, the Centre, the South and East regions. It is no coincidence that these regions are the most populated with great apes.
    The Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, since the beginning of this year, is a renewed alert mode to track and arrest wildlife traffickers with a new found impetus. This may indicate better days ahead for wildlife law enforcement in the country.