About six rhino horns were recovered in Kabokweni, in Mpumalanga by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation.
The police said this is a breakthrough, which launched “Project Blood Orange.”
Various law enforcement organisations joined forces to launch the project, which is gunning to expose game rangers working with syndicates.
The launch of the project coincided with the arrest of Francis Kipampa, a Congolese national, who is serving an 18-year prison sentence, for rhino poaching.
Kipampa pleaded guilty to rhino horn trafficking, money laundering, and played a major role in a poaching syndicate.
So the Hawks in Mpumalanga, along with multiple stakeholders from government and the private sector, secured a preservation order over four of Kipampa’s properties, valued at R5 860 000.00.
Kipampa, was arrested with fifteen other people, including two former game rangers, and several members of their families.
Major General Nico Gerber, Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, said Project Blood Orange showcases the power of financial forensic investigations in exposing the activities of corrupt rangers, who shared crucial information with rhino poaching syndicates.
“The project came at a great cost to the DPCI in Mpumalanga, as it claimed the life of a dedicated and skilled investigator who was tragically assassinated on his way to work on 17 March 2020.”
Organisations part of the project are -the Hawks, KPMG, SAPS Crime Intelligence Head Office, SANParks, Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), the Department of Home Affairs, Insurance Crime Bureau, SAPS StockTheft and Endangered Species Units in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, the Local Criminal Record Centre, the Forensic Science Laboratory, DPCI Head Office Wildlife Section, DPCI Serious Organised Crime Investigation in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng, as well as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Picture: IWT Challenge Fund.