Rhino Task Team arrests two in KNP
Two Mozambican nationals have been arrested for the alleged possession of an unlicensed firearm, ammunition and dangerous weapon with an intention to commit crime.
In a police statement, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said on Tuesday the park’s rangers in the Satara area of the Park caught the men who who were allegedly hunting rhino for their horns.
Sipho Ngobeni and Samuel Ngulelo, aged 33 and 36 respectively, have already made their first appearance in the White Rivier Magistrate’s Court.
They will be back in the same court later this week.
“Their arrests bring to 156 the number of people arrested in the various areas of the park in the past 12 months. Like the two suspects above, many of these suspects are facing charges of possession of unlicensed firearms, ammunition, dangerous weapons and trespassing,” Naidoo said.
Most of the suspects arrested to date are in custody awaiting trial, with the exception of a few who were released on bail.
He said the Rhino Task Team, under the leadership of Lieutenant General Vinesh Moonoo, was formed to investigate Rhino poaching cases in the Kruger National Park as it had been so “badly affected”. - ANA
(File photo: Gallo Images)