Three arrested in Ebolowa |
Three wildlife traffickers were arrested on
March 16, 2016 following a sting operation carried out by The South Regional
Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife working in collaboration with the
gendarmerie in Ebolowa. The three aged between 24 and 26 were arrested as they
attempted to sell a haul of wildlife products consisting of several apes
skulls, some of which were from freshly killed gorillas and chimpanzees.
One
of the traffickers is a suspected big time ivory trafficker and preliminary
investigations indicated that he owns several guns which he uses to kill
elephants and has been carrying out the illicit business in ivory with one
“Alhadji” who comes in from the Briquetterieneighbourhood in Yaounde. It is on
the basis of this illicit ivory trade that investigations were launched into
his activity and instead of ivory, 8 chimpanzee and 4 gorilla skulls were found
in the possession of the three who were
arrested thanks to assistance provided by an NGO called The Last Ape
Organisation (LAGA). Each of the three traffickers had their own skulls among
the wildlife products seized from them. The other two had joined him to sell
their own skulls when they were arrested.
Inside
source say during the period leading to the arrest of the three suspects, one of
them had boasted, he kills gorillas or chimpanzees for food and equally does so
during his hunting expeditions and this explains why he had a good number of
chimpanzee skulls to sell.
This
allegation reveals another side of the trafficking business as other protected
wildlife species only become victims when poachers go deep into the forests for
days to kill elephants. They simply just kill other wildlife species for food.
.
In
an effort to stem the illegal trade in wildlife species, the Ministry of Forestry
and Wildlife signed a convention with The Last Great Ape Organisation (LAGA)
with the main objective being the tracking and arresting of wildlife law
offenders and getting them imprisoned, if found guilty. Since 2003, this
collaboration has produced several high profile arrests with major
international traffickers arrested and given prison sentences of up to 3 years
which is the maximum imprisonment term according to the law which states that
anyone found in possession of parts of a protected wildlife species is
considered to have killed the animal. The conservation of the country’s great
apes is one of the main functions of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and
wildlife law enforcement is part of this effort.
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