RUNDU – Four suspects were arrested on Saturday for being found in possession of nine elephant tusks at Kamutjonga village south of Divundu in Mukwe Constituency in the Kavango East Region.
The four suspects, one Namibian, one Angolan, two Botswana nationals were arrested after a police search at around 07h00 last Saturday and they were found in possession of nine tusks. Possession of elephant tusks is prohited.
Detective Chief Inspector Chrispin Mubebo of the Namibian Police in Kavango East said the search was done after a tip-off from the community and the suspects were caught with the tusks and were immediately arrested.
Initially, two Namibians were arrested but one of them was released as the police realised he was not part of those arrested and now four suspects are in police custody.
“As you know, we are busy investigating the illegal activities of poaching in that area so with information from the public we got that the suspects were looking for customers for the tusks, we started a sting operation to catch them. The Namibian suspect is from that area and the others seem to have joined him,” Mubebo naratted.
The four suspects were expected to appear in court yesterday but their case was postponed to today as the magistrate was unable to travel to the regional court in Ndiyona settlement some 120 km east of Rundu.
On April 3, an elephant was found dead at Muit’jiku village of Kavango East in the Buffalo core area of Bwabwata West National Park.
Muit’jiku is located in Bwabwata West National Park in Mukwe Constituency in Kavango East.
The elephant carcass was allegedly discovered on a Friday morning by villagers, who alerted the police at Divundu.
It was believed to have been poached. An initial police investigation found two gunshot entry and exit wounds in the carcass, which made investigators suspect it was illegally shot.
According to the police, the elephant had its tusks intact, as the poachers appeared to have hurriedly left the scene after they were supposedly disturbed.