FOUR Chinese nationals appeared in Mbeya Resident Magistrate Court on Tuesday charged with smuggling rhino horns, a senior police official said yesterday, pointing to further gains in the fight against the illegal trade.
Last month, Tanzania, which relies
heavily on revenues from safari tourism, charged a prominent Chinese
businesswoman, Yang Feng Glan, 66, dubbed the ‘Ivory Queen’, with
running a network that smuggled tusks from more than 350 elephants.
The East African country’s elephant
population shrank from 110,000 in 2009 to a little over 43,000 in 2014,
according to a census released in June, with conservation groups blaming
“industrial-scale” poaching.
There are far fewer rhinos and they are
endangered. The four Chinese nationals, who were allegedly found in
possession of 11 rhino horns, were arraigned in court in the southern
Tanzanian town of Mbeya on Tuesday.
“The Chinese nationals were denied bail
by the resident magistrate’s court and are being held in custody while
the hearing of the case continues,” Mbeya regional police chief Ahmed
Msangi told Reuters by telephone.
“They were charged with economic
sabotage, which is a very serious criminal offence in Tanzania.” Rhino
horn has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine, where it was
ground into powder to treat a range of maladies including rheumatism,
gout and even possession by devils.
The Elephant Action League, a U.S.-based
conservation group, hailed the prosecution of the Chinese nationals,
saying it marked another high profile arrest of poaching suspects in
Tanzania.
“We must keep up the pressure and
support those willing to confront this type of crime as the bad guys
have gotten away with this for far too long,” Elephant Action League
founder Andrea Crosta said in a statement.
A key Tanzanian poaching suspect known
as “Shetani” or “The Devil” was arrested last month after a manhunt that
lasted for more than a year. Tanzania’s new president, John Magufuli,
has vowed to crack down on poaching as part of a wider war.
No comments :
Post a Comment