Maputo, 20 Aug (AIM) – Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) has arrested two people in Moatize district, in the central province of Tete, for attempting to sell a pangolin.
The pangolin (sometimes known as the scaly anteater) is one of the species most under threat from poaching in Mozambique.
During the public presentation of the two accused, the SERNIC spokesperson in Tete, Américo Rosa, told reporters that the poachers were caught thanks to coordination between SERNIC and the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC).
“Though our operational lines, we knew that two individuals, from Nkondezi locality, were in possession of a pangolin. We caught them red-handed, while they were trying to take the animal to Malawi where they wanted to sell it for 150,000 meticais (about 2,340 US dollars, at the current exchange rate).”
According to Rosa, this is the second case of the attempted sale of a pangolin aborted by the authorities in Tete province this year alone.
Last August, SERNIC arrested three people in the northern province of Niassa for the capture and sale of pangolins.
The arrestees deny being involved in the crime and claimed to have found the animal in their fields.
(AIM)
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