MBOMBELA – According to police spokesman Mtsholi Bhembe, SANparks officials, Rangers and Protection Services as well as members of the police caught four men aged between 47 and 23 in the Kruger National Park (KNP).
SANparks officials received information about the four suspects who were reportedly about to exit the park, traveling in two vehicles.
They (officials) pounced on them, with the assistance of a SANparks chopper that had to land on the road in order to blockade the fleeing men’s vehicles.
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The men, amongst them a SANparks employee, were searched. The following items were found in their possession, a freshly cut set of rhino horns, a hunting rifle and ammunition.
They were immediately arrested with all the exhibits, including the two vehicles being confiscated.
The suspects will appear at the Bushbuckridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday, facing charges of illegal hunting, possession of a hunting rifle and ammunition without a licence as well as trespassing charges.
Meanwhile another two men aged 36 and 31 will appear at the Hendrina Magistrate’s Court on the same Monday, facing charges of possession of a firearm as well as ammunition without a licence.
During a routine police stop and search operation, the suspects were found in possession of a revolver, a toy pistol and ammunition. The pair, found walking on the street, were surprised by police and attempted to flee, but it was too late for them.
The Mpumalanga police commissioner Lt Gen Mondli Zuma applauded the teams and urged each and every law enforcement officer in the province to always be cautious in order to remove the rotten elements from society.
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