Alleged pangolin traffickers nabbed in Pretoria CBD basement

Two men were arrested in the Pretoria CBD on Wednesday for allegedly trying to sell a pangolin (Afrikaans: ietermagog).

“The incident took place around 16:00 at the underground parking at Sammy Marks Square,” according to African Pangolin Working Group (APWG) chairperson professor Ray Jansen.

Jansen said two men were arrested for being in possession of and trying to sell a threatened and protected species.

“They had a pangolin in the boot of their car.”

He said the arrests were made through combined intelligence operations by the Tshwane metro police department’s drug division, the Hawks, and The African Pangolin Working Group.

“Preliminary investigations revealed the pangolin was from Thabazimbi, but could have originally been sourced from Zimbabwe.”

He said the pangolin has since been sent to a private veterinary hospital in Kyalami, Johannesburg, for medical observations.

Jansen said the African Pangolin Working Group, working with police, had numerous operations in Gauteng in 2020.

“Nationally, we have had 33 pangolins retrieved out of the trade this year.”

He said Gauteng and Limpopo had also been a hotspot of the pangolin trade, this year.

“Despite the lockdown and the pandemic, the trade in these animals has increased.”

Jansen said once South African moved to level 4 lockdown, there was a huge spike in the pangolin trade.

“People are fueled to join pangolin poaching as they deem it as a get-rich-quick-scheme, especially after the loss of jobs due to the pandemic.”

Jansen said there was more evidence to suggest the pangolin trade was coming more from Zimbabwe and was becoming a part of organised crime.

He alleged that these animals were becoming the most traded mammals in the world.

They are used in traditional Chinese medicine, which is why people are willing to pay large amounts of money for these animals.

“They are used in various remedies for traditional Chinese medicine, up to 60 different commercial products are sold in the mainland of China with pangolin powder as an ingredient.”

He said medicinal and spiritual beliefs resulted in the demand for pangolins by syndicates targeting them due to the exorbitant prices they could charge.

Jansen urged members of the public to stop purchasing these endangered species and contact the police or the African Pangolin Working Group when they noticed such crimes being committed.

Pangolins are known to be trafficked by the thousands for their scales, which are boiled off their bodies for use in traditional medicine; for their meat, and or their blood.

Tshwane metro police spokesperson Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said they were aware of the incident, but could not comment on the matter.

Police had yet to confirm the arrest.