Alleged rhino poaching kingpin nabbed again
A suspected rhino poaching kingpin, Joseph ‘Big Joe’ Nyalunga, is behind bars once again after being arrested after a high-speed chase with the Hoedspruit police.
For the umpteenth time since 2011, a suspected rhino poaching kingpin and former policeman, Joseph ‘Big Joe’ Nyalunga (58) was arrested for allegedly being involved in yet another rhino poaching incident.
Nyalunga, who is currently out on bail on at least five other cases involving rhino poaching, racketeering and murder, was arrested on May 27 around 17:00 after being involved in a high-speed chase with the Hoedspruit SAPS.
In the lead up to his 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 and the local farm watch and policing forum. 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 ammo in the bag on the road.
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Nyalunga appeared in the Hoedspruit Magistrate’s Court today, May 29. He was remanded in custody. The case was postponed to June 15 for further investigation. He had been on the investigators’ radar for allegedly being involved in poaching for several months before he was eventually arrested in December 2011 at the Middelburg toll gate. Rhino horns and a large amount of cash were discovered in his car at the time.
After being released on bail, in 2012 Nyalunga 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. 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.
This is a developing story.
