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WELL-HEELED businessmen would lead the trade in rhinoceros horn poached in Namibia, using marginal communities as soldiers, revealed an amaBhungane / Namibia survey
The role of local entrepreneurs in the Horn trade has not been highlighted. The popular perception in Namibia is that Chinese nationals are the pivots of commerce.
Senior officials in the Kunene region, environmental advocates and businessmen in northern Namibia confirmed that rhino horn traders were targeting mostly semi-nomadic men. // Om San and Himba communities because of their knowledge of the terrain, the animals and their movements.
The sources provided details on how traders or their agents soften these communities for poaching operations, in particular Park in northern Namibia, arm them and train in the area. use of firearms.
Namibia has the largest population of black rhinos in the world, located primarily in Etosha, one of the country's major tourist attractions.
A senior police official, who requested anonymity, said individuals and organizations from the northern business community – mainly from Oshakati, Ondangwa and Ongwediva – were on the radar police as illegal trade conductors.
The source of the police said: "The San and Himba know how animals move, how animals behave, and of course they are very good trackers, which is why they are so sought after. by those who are looking for infantry. "
The records show that most people arrested for poaching come from rural areas. And police records for the last five years show that the majority of people arrested for poaching in Namibia are either locals or members of poor communities in Angola, Zimbabwe and Zambia near the Namibian border.
. they appear in court, the suspects are able to pay a bail between 5 000 and 10 000 Namibian dollars, the businessmen being suspected of being released on bail
while the police refuse to name suspects. In 1965, Tobias Sheetu Amunyela, an Okahao resident in the Omusati region and 21 others – mostly villagers – were arrested and accused of hunting protected species after investigations of police. linked to black rhinoceros carcasses in Etosha.
Amunyela, who has a number of commercial interests, leads an opulent lifestyle that has attracted the attention of the media and the police. He lives in a big house and has two bars in Okahao. Tangi Sheefeni Amon Namwandi, also known as' Mox & # 39;
Namwandi was arrested in 2016 with his business mate Jairus Shaalukeni.
Police reportedly found a rhinoceros horn in the Namwandi Mercedez Benz during an undercover operation after being warned that both men were offering horns for sale.
A familiar source with Namwandi's activities claimed that he was more an intermediary than a leader.
"He has to work for someone here in Namibia or China, but if there is a group operating here, it is certainly not him who directs it". said the source.
"There is a lot of money involved in rhinoceros horn and those who are really behind will never touch it themselves, they use little boys like Mox and his friend."
Horn black rhinoceros reaches the best prices in the Chinese and Vietnamese markets – about 60,000 dollars (800,000 Namibian dollars) per kilo.
Interviewed last week, Namwandi categorically denies involvement in a poaching syndicate
"I am a printer by profession, I run my own printing house and receive from the government bids of up to $ 10 million Namibians, "he said, adding that his house and his vehicles had all been bought with bank financing.
Namwandi confirmed that a rhinoceros horn had been found. his vehicle, but said that he belonged to a stranger, he had given a lift.He said that he had no knowledge of the horn until the police discovered.
"The m type asked to give him a lift to Chinatown [in Windhoek] from the gym. He asked us to stop at the gas station near Chinatown to buy airtime. The next thing, my car is surrounded by the police and the owner of these things was gone. "
Namwandi said that he tried to call the person and said he found an address, even though he did not know the man.
" I do not still can not find this guy, until today, "he said.
He said that he had suffered financial losses during arrest and arrest. the charge and that he was considering changing the name of his company.have never been convicted.The police found rhinoceros horns in my car, that's all.C & # 39; Is a witch hunt against me. "
Another prominent individual arrested for poaching is Gerson Kandjii (52), a former member of the Namibian National Football Team.
Kandjii was arrested in November 2014 for poaching rhinoceros
While on bail, he was arrested and charged with the murder of Reinhardt Schmidt in February 2015 on Schmidt's private hunting farm, Hoodia, near Kalkrand , in the Hardap region.
Africa Geographic reported that the retired German businessman was to become the guardian of several black rhinos as part of a breeding program. run by the state, although local media reported that the murder took place during an armed robbery. Kandjii and another man were again arrested and charged in December 2016, as part of an attack on a flock of white rhinos on a farm in the Omaheke region in which a bull and a pregnant cow were killed and another cow and bull were injured. In this case, it appears that he was denied bail
He faces a fourth charge in a case of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition
"This it's not a small operation ".
On several occasions, police found guns and food hidden in areas near the fence of Etosha and suspected that they were for poachers
. their big luxury cars under the trees in random places. We know that they are there to bring food or weapons to poachers, "said another source.
The Namibian reported in 2015 that the Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food. environment planned to build an appropriate security fence Due to shortages of funds, the fence is not over yet
Environment Minister, Pohamba Shifeta, said that the "government's efforts to fight against poaching will be futile "unless the fence is destroyed."
COMPLEX EXPLOITATION
Explaining how poachers are recruited, the senior police official said the trader or recruiter identify first a poacher, community, studies and identifies who to approach
The recruiter then establishes a relationship of trust with the potential poacher, and sometimes his entire family, by giving them ar or provide them with food.
Firearms are provided and, if necessary, training is given. He added that in some cases, there are known poachers in an area who can be contacted directly to negotiate the price of a poaching operation.
Poachers are at the bottom of the payment chain. Police and conservation sources have stated that they are not paid for by horn or horn weight, but a fixed amount of between N $ 5,000 and N $ 10,000 per poaching operation, which can last up to $ 10,000. 39 to two weeks
. poor because these people are desperate to make ends meet, "said the source. He added that villagers were generally poorly educated and unaware of the wider implications of their actions.
"Poachers easily take this money because they come from where there is nothing.To be given so much at once is a score.The real trade and the l & # 39; Exchanges of large sums of money occur between business people and those who sell the horns in the international market. "
The police source said that Namibian businessmen were acting like intermediaries and facilitators. They organized the hiring of poachers and were responsible for connecting the poacher to the buyer.
The distribution chain also included those responsible for smuggling the horn out of the country.
Police records suggest that most "exporters" are Chinese nationals, sometimes based in neighboring countries. Ondjiva, in southern Angola, is considered a center of organized crime from which traffickers operate.
The Namibian reported in April 2018 that most Chinese nationals imprisoned in Namibia were guilty of crimes against wildlife. Most of them were found in possession of rhinoceros horns when leaving the country.
In 2015, Chinese businessman Li Zhibing, owner of a shop in Otjiwarongo, was jailed after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle 14 rhinoceros horns. Namibia
A retired police officer said that there were strong indications that a number of Chinese nationals who came to Namibia on the pretext of wanting to start businesses – mostly in commerce retail – work for international poaching syndicates. 19659003] Inspector General of Police Sebastian Ndeitunga said in 2017 that a local union based in China had been sending rhinoceros horns disguised as coffee products from Namibia to China since 2016.
Evidence indicates the predominance of Namibians in wildlife crime, but also emphasizes its multinational character.
A total of 246 Namibians were charged with poaching between 2014 and 2018, followed by Angolans (31), Zambians (25), Chinese (17), Botswana (7) and Congolese (3). One Zimbabwean and one Tanzanian were charged
. According to National Geographic magazine rhinoceros poaching in Africa increased from 262 animals killed in 2008 to 1,342 in 2015.
The World Economic Forum reported that wildlife trafficking in 2016 was the fourth most lucrative crime after drugs, human trafficking and arms sales, with a value of between 98 billion and 322 billion Namibian dollars.
The spokesman of the Ministry of the Environment, Romeo Muyunda after 2015, when the number of rhinos was doubled compared with the previous year, the Ministry has redoubled the number of rhinoceros. efforts to combat poaching, with positive results.
In 2015, 91 cases of rhinoceros poaching were opened and 96 people arrested. That year, rhinoceros poaching peaked in Namibia with 95 animals killed. In 2016, 82 people were arrested and 135 cases opened
The number of rhinos killed today has fallen to 60 in 2016 and to 36 in 2017, according to Muyunda. However, two rhinos were poached during the first four months of 2018.
Neither Muyunda nor Steve Felton, Namibian representative of the World Wildlife Fund, revealed the size of the country's rhino population, "for reasons of security".
Muyunda said the ministry is aware of poaching syndicates operating in Namibia using premises or organizations made up of Namibian citizens.
Environmental Secretary Malan Lindeque recently stated that poaching has been a problem in recent years. a healthy and viable population of black rhinos after their near-extinction since the 1960s.
He said that white rhinos, of which there were none in Namibia, have been reintroduced and their numbers steadily increases.
Wildlife conservation has also been found optimistic, claiming that although the Kunene region, bordering Etosha, has lost many rhinos to poachers, it has not been hit as harshly. than Kruge in South Africa. r Park.
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