Maputo, 22 May (AIM) – The Mozambican Police (PRM) on Monday aborted the attempted sale of 12 elephant tusks weighing 28 kilos in Pemba, capital of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
According to the spokesperson of the Cabo Delgado police, Eugénia Nhamussua, who was speaking to reporters, other individuals involved in the case are still at large, including the owner of the tusks “who fled when he realized that the police were present.”
Nhamussua explained that the police had received an anonymous tip about the sale of the tusks and reacted promptly.
“Following the tip-off, an operation was launched which resulted in the arrest of a citizen before the deal went through”, she said.
For his part, the man arrested (who has not been named) denied owning elephant tusks, but admitted that he was involved in the case by transporting the product from Nampula province to Pemba city.
The seizure of the elephant tusks came a week after residents of villages in the administrative posts of Mahate and Quissanga complained about the destruction of their crops in the current agricultural season by herds of elephants, which also fatally attacked a 41-year-old man.
Most of the elephants that circulate in residential areas are from the Quirimbas National Park.
(AIM)
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