More arrests - huge haul of rhino horns
Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 12:15 pm
BULAWAYO / REUTERS
The Hawks Endangered Species Unit have bust three men for allegedly intending to sell rhino horns to an undercover agent.
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Three suspects - Pieter Van Zyl‚ 67‚ Marco Swanepoel‚ 35‚ and Stephan Mylie‚ 30 - were arrested on Wednesday evening in Equestria‚ Pretoria.
“It is alleged that the three intended to sell five rhino horns and unaware that it was a sting operation‚ they were then rounded up by the Hawks members.
“The trio were led to their hide-out‚ Van Zyl’s house‚ where a further three rhino horns were found and seized. The eight horns are estimated to be worth over R800‚000‚” said Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.
He added that on Thursday the team had gone back to the same house as part of their ongoing investigation and were stunned to find a massive haul of almost 105 rhino horns‚ the value of which had yet to be determined.
“Van Zyl - a well-known game farmer‚ alleges the rhino horns belonged to him. Despite that claim‚ the Hawks team is validating the alleged permits‚ issued by the Department of Environmental Affairs‚ as well as taken DNA samples of all horns to compare them to the Rhodis database at Onderstepoort‚” Mulaudzi said.
Meanwhile the three suspects appeared at in the Pretoria Regional Court on Friday and Van Zyl was granted R20‚000 bail while the other two men‚ Swanepoel and Mylie‚ were each released on R10‚000 bail. The case was remanded until October 12 for further investigation
The Hawks Endangered Species Unit have bust three men for allegedly intending to sell rhino horns to an undercover agent.
Save & Share
Three suspects - Pieter Van Zyl‚ 67‚ Marco Swanepoel‚ 35‚ and Stephan Mylie‚ 30 - were arrested on Wednesday evening in Equestria‚ Pretoria.
“It is alleged that the three intended to sell five rhino horns and unaware that it was a sting operation‚ they were then rounded up by the Hawks members.
“The trio were led to their hide-out‚ Van Zyl’s house‚ where a further three rhino horns were found and seized. The eight horns are estimated to be worth over R800‚000‚” said Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.
He added that on Thursday the team had gone back to the same house as part of their ongoing investigation and were stunned to find a massive haul of almost 105 rhino horns‚ the value of which had yet to be determined.
“Van Zyl - a well-known game farmer‚ alleges the rhino horns belonged to him. Despite that claim‚ the Hawks team is validating the alleged permits‚ issued by the Department of Environmental Affairs‚ as well as taken DNA samples of all horns to compare them to the Rhodis database at Onderstepoort‚” Mulaudzi said.
Meanwhile the three suspects appeared at in the Pretoria Regional Court on Friday and Van Zyl was granted R20‚000 bail while the other two men‚ Swanepoel and Mylie‚ were each released on R10‚000 bail. The case was remanded until October 12 for further investigation
