Alleged rhino poaching ‘kingpin’s’ reign of terror ends

A suspected rhino poaching kingpin, Joseph ‘Big Joe’ Nyalunga (58), is behind bars once again after being arrested in a high-speed chase with the Hoedspruit police. Nyalunga appeared in the Hoedspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday, May 29. He was remanded in custody. The case was postponed to June 15 for further investigation.

He was first arrested in 2011 at the Middelburg toll gate after being on police’s radar for several months for allegedly being involved in poaching. Rhino horns and a large amount of cash were discovered in his car at the time. After his arrest, he was released on bail, and in 2012 he was behind bars once again after being trapped in an undercover police sting operation in Hazyview where he was once again found with rhino horns in his vehicle.

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In the follow-up investigation, the Hawks confiscated a metal trunk containing more than R5m that had been hidden in his luxury house in Hazyview. During his bail application at the time, it was testified that Nyalunga had on at least two occasions bought rhino horns from a police agent. In the lead-up to his latest arrest, he was tracked for allegedly being involved in a rhino poaching incident in Lydenburg.

He was traced in a joint intelligence operation conducted by the Limpopo Stock Theft Unit, Hoedspruit police, Farm Watch, and the CPF. He was eventually arrested after he crashed into another vehicle near Kampersrus in Limpopo. Minutes before his fleeing spree came to a halt, he allegedly stopped in the middle of the road where another suspect jumped out of the vehicle, dropped a black bag on the road, and fled into the bush. When the police searched the vehicle that Nyalunga was driving, they discovered a stack of cash wrapped in a plastic bag hidden under the back seat. They found knives, a rifle, and ammunition in the bag on the road.