Poaching Cartel Fulfills Rhino Horn and Elephant Ivory ‘Orders’ Placed By Chinese Nationals

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Poaching Cartel Fulfills Rhino Horn and Elephant Ivory ‘Orders’ Placed By

Chinese Nationals

Written by Rhishja Larson <http://greenoptions.com/author/rhishja>

 

Published on August 2nd, 2009 in About

Animals <http://ecoworldly.com/category/about-animals/>, In

Africa<http://ecoworldly.com/category/in-africa/>

, In Asia <http://ecoworldly.com/category/in-asia/>

<http://ecoworldly.com/category/in-asia/>

 

A shocking undercover journey reveals that a poaching cartel known as ‘The

Crocodile Gang’, led by Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, is slaughtering

rhinos and elephants to fulfill ‘requests’ for horn and ivory.

 

Dubbed the Crocodile Gang, this cartel - whose existence can be revealed by

the Mail today - is behind the ‘industrial-scale slaughter’ of black rhinos,

prompting warnings that the species will be hunted to extinction in the

region within two years.

 

And the “godfather” of the poaching cartel is said to be Emmerson Mnangagwa

- known by locals now as “The Crocodile.” Also referred to as “The Butcher

of Matabeleland”, he is the architect of Zimbabwe’s terrifying state

security apparatus, creator of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Office (CIO)

- and rumored to be next in line for

president<http://www.zimeye.org/?p=7337> after Mugabe.

 

Probably risking his life, Andrew Malone, a writer for The UK’s Daily

Mail<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1203627/How-Chelsy-Davys-father-Chi\

nese-gangsters-ruthless-Mugabe-henchman-linked-vile-trade-thats-driving-Black-Rh\

ino-extinction.html>,

reports that he went undercover, posing as an overseas buyer of illegal

rhino horn to dig deeper into the widespread rhino massacre that stands to

wipe out an entire species. What he reveals is an appalling world of

cruelty, corruption, death threats - and the consequences suffered by those who

have tried to speak out.

 

The meeting

 

Posing as an overseas buyer of illegal rhino horn, I was given an

unprecedented insight into the sheer scale of the operation - and the vast

sums involved. After making contact with the ivory cartel through an

intermediary, we were instructed to drive 400 miles south-west of Harare and

telephone a number using a pre-arranged codeword. There, after more

elaborate instructions, we were told to drive to a remote location in

Matabeleland, near the border with South Africa and Botswana.

 

Mr. Malone then describes meeting with a man named “Gerald” - who operates

with members of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Office (CIO). Gerald has

just returned from a “successful” rhino hunt - fulfilling the “order”placed

by a Chinese buyer.

 

The rhino was being killed to order: a Chinese buyer had offered to pay

£3,200 per kilo of rhino horn. ‘It wasn’t easy - there is no cover because

it’s winter and the animal kept seeing us by the moonlight and running

away,’ he told me.

 

After first shooting the rhino in the lungs, Gerald and his men pursue the

wounded rhino for 12 hours. When the wounded rhino lay down to rest at a

watering hole, Gerald and his men shot the rhino six times, and then hacked

the horns from the animal’s face using the large, machete-like knives called

pangas.

 

Gerald had sold the horns two days before our meeting. When I told him I

would pay an even higher price, his eyes narrowed. He said. ‘I will contact

you the next time.’

 

*The case of the disappearing docket*

 

Earlier this month, the involvement of Mnangagwa and Webster

Shamu<http://www.zimdaily.com/news/rhinohorn27.7291.html>,

Zimbabwe’s media and information minister, came into the spotlight when a

police officer stopped a Chinese man at roadblock - and was found to be

carrying six rhino horns, still bloody.

 

The Chinese man implicated Mnangagwa and Webster Shamu.

 

Unfortunately, the policeman who uncovered the ivory haul has vanished -

along with his report. Meanwhile, the Chinese national was released - with

his [horns] - and escorted through Harare International Airport to his

plane.

 

The Zim Daily <http://www.zimdaily.com/news/rhinohorn27.7291.html> reported

the following about the corruption “cover-up”:

 

… a police docket against two ZANU PF heavyweights — Emmerson Mnangagwa and

Webster Shamu — has vanished from attorney-general Johannes Tomana’s office.

And, efforts to give Tomana a copy of the docket has seen the police

superintendent who was in charge of the investigations transferred from his

posting at Bulawayo Central police station to a rural outpost at Nzvimbo in

Chiweshe.

 

Mr. Malone, in his article, explains another prominent Webster Shamu

connection, Charles

Davy<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/chelsy-davys-father-faces-in\

quiry-into-business-deals-474982.html>

:

 

Davy and Shamu set up HHK safaris, which offers trophy hunting of animals

including elephant and lion, to wealthy foreigners. While almost every other

white landowner has been driven from his property by Mugabe’s thugs, Davy …

has prospered. A friend of Mugabe, he has made an estimated £10 million from

his big-game hunting business.

 

According to the Zimbabwe Times <http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15059>:

 

Shamu and Davy were associated in HHK Safari Company until it was disclosed

that, far from being a partner in a joint venture in the lucrative operation

as widely reported, Shamu was merely a front for foreign interests.

 

*A common thread*

 

65,000 Black Rhinos were alive in Africa as recently as 1970. Now there are

only 2,300 total surviving in the wild - and the number is dwindling.

Elephant poaching continues to skyrocket.

 

Conservationists and wildlife experts agree: China’s booming prosperity is

fueling the massacre<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2009/2009-07-16-02.asp>

..

 

Earlier this year, Wu Ming Quan, another Chinese ‘ businessman’, was caught

with 500kg of ivory at Harare airport. The tusks were spotted on an X-ray

machine at the airport. But the X-ray operator was prevented from

confronting Quan by three members of Zimbabwe’s secret police. According to

undercover wildlife investigators, the Chinese businessman had paid an

additional £2,000 for safe passage through the airport. The X-ray operator

was arrested and thrown in jail for threatening to bring the crime to light.

 

Mr. Malone also notes that a ton of ivory was seized in Nairobi two months

ago - it was being shipped from Zimbabwe to China.

 

I wrote about the ivory situation in my post “Kenya Wildlife Service

Dismayed at Resurgence in Elephant

Poaching<http://ecoworldly.com/2009/07/20/kenya-wildlife-service-dismayed-at-res\

urgence-in-elephant-poaching/>

“:

 

Earlier this month, an illegal shipment of elephant tusks and rhino horn was

seized at the Jomo Kenyatta Airport. Blood on the ivory and horns confirmed

that the elephants and rhinos had recently been killed.. The animal parts

were hidden in coffins, and were en route to Laos. Kenya wildlife

authorities are confident that the tusks and horn had a final destination of

China, where the illegal trade in endangered species parts is

well-established.

 

And “Kenya Fears Link Between Elephant Killings and Chinese Construction

Projects<http://ecoworldly.com/2009/07/26/kenya-fears-link-between-elephant-kill\

ings-and-chinese-construction-projects/>

“:

 

The Kenya Wildlife Service suspects it is more than a coincidence that a

large number of elephant killings have occurred in areas where Chinese crews

have recently arrived for massive construction projects.

 

According to Save the Elephants, the majority of smugglers arrested at Jomo

Kenyatta Airport are now Chinese

<http://www.savetheelephants.org/news-reader/items/chinese-workers-in-kenya-coul\

d-be-driving-trade-in-elephant-poac.html>

nationals.

 

The Zululand Observer<http://www.zululandobserver.co.za/Pages/f31story6.html>

has

now reported the following regarding the poaching of eight white rhinos in

Opathe-Emakhoseni Heritage Park (OEHP):

 

Developments regarding the OEHP incidents have since seen four men and a

woman, all of Chinese origin, appear in the Babanango Magistrate’s Court on

Tuesday this week, following their arrest inside OEHP near Ulundi. They were

found trespassing, as the reserve has been temporary closed to the public,

pending the appointment of a new manager for the park. They were not asked

to plead to any charges and the case was postponed pending further

investigations. Those who appeared are Pingquan Ni (37), Shuiwang Wu (37),

Daxin Zhang (42), Xiufu Lin (32) and Meixia Zhu (26). They own businesses in

Ulundi.

 

Just last week, tame, hand-raised celebrity rhino

Toliwe<http://ecoworldly.com/2009/07/28/celebrity-rhino-toliwe-found-murdered-by\

-poachers/>,

featured in a Cell C TV commercial, became a victim of poachers.

 

*Death threats*

 

While on his mission, Mr. Malone had the opportunity to meet the founder of

the Zimbabwe Wildlife Task Force, Jonny Rodriguez. There have been many

threats made on his life for speaking out.

 

Jonny Rodriguez, a Zimbabwean former special forces soldier, is one of the

few people brave enough to speak out against this government-sponsored

slaughter. Founder of the Zimbabwe Wildlife Task Force, a group that works

to save endangered species, he has received countless death threats.

 

*Taking steps*

 

There have been reports that the BBC has resumed broadcasting “openly” from

Zimbabwe<http://blog.taragana.com/n/bbc-on-first-open-legal-assignment-since-200\

1-as-zimbabwe-eases-foreign-media-restriction-125301/>

for

the first time since 2001. And CNN might even be allowed soon.

 

In recent years of political and economic turmoil, most Western

organizations had been refused government licenses to report from Zimbabwe.

Correspondents from the BBC and other media have acknowledged reporting

clandestinely from Zimbabwe, at times entering on tourist visas.

 

These crimes thrive in secret, and will continue as long as there is no

speaking out against them.

 

One of the first steps, then, is to begin talking about what is going on:

Help by giving a voice to the rhinos and elephants who are unable to speak

for themselves.

 

Andrew Malone has taken a brave step. Here’s to taking more steps like his.

 

--

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