South Africa: Arrest of poachers during a thunderstorm

At its Singapore meeting in 2017, the INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group discussed the one-month global operation against the illegal trade in wildlife and timber. Codenamed Thunderstorm, the operation had targeted people and networks behind cross-border wildlife crime.

During the global operation INTERPOL announced that 1,974 seizures were registered and 1,400 arrested during investigations and research in 92 countries during the month of May. Seizures around the world included 43 tons of wild meat, including bears, elephants, crocodiles, whales and zebras; 1.3 tons of raw and processed elephant ivory; 27,000 reptiles including 869 alligators / crocodiles, 9,590 turtles and 10,000 snakes; and nearly 4000 birds, including pelicans, ostriches, parrots and owls. In addition, the authorities seized 48 live primates, 14 big cats including tiger, lion, leopard and jaguar, and several tons of wood and wood.

The operation seized eight tons of pangolins, including nearly four tons of maritime authorities aboard a ship arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In South Africa, the South African Police Service; the Priority Criminal Investigations Branch (Hawks); Customs of SARS; the Environmental Management Inspectorate (Green Scorpions) of the Department of Environmental Affairs, SANParks, provincial conservation authorities and law enforcement officers of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Oceans. forests participated in the operation. airports and other points of entry and exit between South Africa and Europe, Botswana and Zimbabwe, as well as to international mail centers and the horn unions chain of value of rhinoceros

. Tooth teeth, also known as sand tiger shark or dark shark, at Cape Town International Airport when inspecting a container containing illegal shipping.

The seizure of live sharks that were exported to the Netherlands is an indication that the problem of live shark smuggling is greater than originally thought

Sharks were seized after It was determined that they were exported without the required permits under the Marine Living Resources Act and the Endangered or Protected Marine Species Regulations. The sharks came from Port Alfred. A laptop, a cell phone and documents were seized during the operation. No arrests have been made and the investigation is continuing.

Two men were arrested in Daveyton by the Hawks, SANParks and the Environmental Management Inspection Department of Environmental Affairs for allegedly selling rhinoceros horn. result of a two-year investigation by the Hawks and Green Scorpions at SANParks, to identify the criminal supply chain and rhinoceros horn receptors in Gauteng. Mandla Mashele, 37, and Kelvin Malapane, 38, were arrested for illegally buying rhinoceros horns, violating endangered species, racketeering and money laundering regulations.

Two collectors were arrested for illegal possession of elephant ivory at Ramatlabama Border Post between South Africa and Botswana. The suspects were traveling to South Africa when they were arrested during a search of their vehicle. Two kilograms of ivory were confiscated

Six men were arrested in Pretoria for illegal possession of a pangolin. The operation, led by the Hawks, followed a suspect who was offering a Pangolin for sale to a police officer. The Pangolin was confiscated and sent to veterinary care.

Three men were arrested in Walkerville on May 11 for illegal possession of 700 kg of abalone valued at Rs 3.5 million and operating a fish processing facility without a license. Police and Green Scorpions executed a search warrant on the property. A total of 18,000 abalone units were seized

Members of DAFF's Green Scorpions, Customs Officers and Fishery Control Officers searched a ship in the port of Durban, while ad hoc searches were carried out in the port. During the Green Scorpions and Fishery Officers' dockside inspections of the validity of local fishermen's licenses, abandoned catches including undersized mussels and fish were seized. No arrests were made.

No illegal objects were found when searching for objects at the International Durban Mail Center

Published by: Department of Environmental Affairs