Three men arrested during an undercover operation last Friday, were denied bail by the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The trio were arrested at a local mall during a joint undercover operation which was conducted by the police, with the assiatnce of the Endangered Species Unit in Limpopo, K9 unit, Crime Intelligence Unit, The Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism (LEDET) and SANParks’ Environmental Crime Investigation Unit (ECI).
The accused, aged 31 and 36, faces charges related to illegal possession and sale of ivory and are expected to reappear on Tuesday, 2 February.
Jan 22
Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt Genk Nneke Ledwaba had welcomed the arrest of the three suspects for possession of elephants tusks.
The three men were arrested on Friday, during an undercover operation which was conducted by the police with the assistance of the Endangered Species Unit in Limpopo, K9 unit, Crime Intelligence, LEDET and KNP ECI.
According to Police Spokesperson, Col Moatshe Ngoepe the undercover officers were at a local mall when they were approached by three men who wanted to sell them elephant tusks. The men were arrested after they revealed four elephants tusks worth an estimated value of R168 000.
The trio were charged with illegal possession and sale of ivory and will appear in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court soon.
