Midrand police arrested nine suspects on May 19 on New Road, Midrand after they were found with a female pangolin weighing 0.9kg valued at R250 000.

According to Midrand police spokesperson Constable Eliot Mabulane, the suspects were arrested under the National Environmental Management, Biodiversity Act which restricts activities involving pangolins. He added an e-hailing driver was among the arrested suspects.

Midrand Police Station Commander Brigadier Molefi David Tsotsotso welcomed the arrests and said it would serve as a deterrence to those that were found to be on the wrong side of the law.

“We appreciate the informers who have tipped off the police of this crime. We urge more community members to come forth and register as informers where their identity won’t be revealed and stand to be rewarded [by giving] positive information,” concluded Tsotsotso.

Ridge Times reported earlier this year that a wildlife trafficker was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for illegal possession of and trying to sell a pangolin.

Zimbabwean national Tichaona Chifamba (41) appeared and pleaded guilty before Regional Magistrate Victor Ball in the Secunda Regional Court on March 24.

He was caught in an intelligence-driven operation on August 3 last year while peddling a Temminck’s pangolin in the parking lot of A & E Hyperworld in Trichardt.

The Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) and the police worked together to nab Chifamba who asked for a large amount of money for the pangolin.

The small sub-adult male pangolin was kept in a bag and was in a haggard condition when the police found it.

It is presumed that the animal had been poached in Zimbabwe and kept in this bag for about three weeks.

Despite the rescue efforts, the pangolin died en route to the ICU ward of the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital.