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Man arrested for pangolin scales trafficking.
Man arrested for pangolin scales trafficking.
A man has been arrested in Douala for pangolin scales trafficking during a crackdown operation carried out by wildlife officials and the police. The man who attempted to sell close to 100kg of pangolin scales was arrested shortly after he arrived the Village neighbourhood in Douala with the bags of pangolin scales. On a motorcycle, he closely followed a car transporting the pangolin scales and when the car stopped police took their chance and swooped in. The operation that was technically assisted by an NGO called LAGA, was carried out by Wouri Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife working in collaboration and the police.
The man who is part of an international network of pangolin scales traffickers that wildlife officials thought they had dismantled in August last year had been investigated for over a couple of months. He was the main link in the network in Douala where he played a crucial role in facilitating the illegal wildlife trade from the Central African Republic. He would receive pangolin scales sent through trucks plying the Douala – Bangui corridor, then proceed to selling the scales in the town.
Prior investigations show he had close ties to the international network of pangolin scales traffickers who were arrested on August 18, 2018 for illegal possession of 700kg of pangolin scales. The trial that ensued was described by various wildlife law enforcement experts as a disappointment as the traffickers were released shortly after their arrest and would never return to court. In spite of their contempt of court, they were given what was described by many people as very weak sentences. According to sources close to the matter that requested for anonymity, one of the released traffickers was equally connected to the present attempts at selling the scales in Douala.
The network operates mainly in central African countries including Cameroon and Republic of Central Africa and they move pangolin scales across all these countries to as far as Nigeria. Part of the pangolin scales seized was initially stored in Kenzou in the East Region, near the Central African border.
The exposed modus operandi for these international trafficking networks is simple, and consists of buying the scales from smaller traffickers in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and exporting to Nigeria via Cameroon.
Pangolins are totally protected by the law and anyone found in illegal possession of its parts is liable to a prison term that can go up to 3 years if found guilty. Cameroon upgraded all three species of pangolins to the class of totally protected wildlife species following the CITES 2016 CoP that listed all pangolin species in annex I. The sub region is considered to be a hotspot for sourcing illegal pangolin scales that is exported mainly to Asian countries. Over the years, several tons of pangolin scales originating from the region have been seized in Asian cities. It should be noted that in January 2017 two Chinese nationals were arrested in Douala with over 5 tons of pangolin scales ready for illegal export.