Tendai Muererwa
MUTARE – Four individuals, three Mozambican nationals and a local were apprehended in Honde Valley during a sting operation conducted by CID Nyanga detectives and a Parks and Wildlife officers on pangolin scales.
The suspects, identified as Tendai Simione Massimhonda, Rosario Balaque Jeque, Bento Neto Sicreta, and Shingirai Brown were caught attempting to sell illicit pangolin scales valued at US$5,000.
The arrest unfolded after law enforcement agents received a tip off on October 22 indicating that the group intended to travel to the area to trade the contraband for ritualistic purposes. In response, an undercover team disguised themselves in white gowns, posing as aides to a traditional healer. The informant kept in contact with Brown, who along with Jeque led the disguised officers to Massimhonda and Sicreta at Hauna Business Centre. Massimhonda was found carrying the pangolin scales inside a red and black satchel.
Once the group led the undercover officers to a secluded area near the business centre, the detectives revealed their identity and arrested all four suspects, recovering the scales as evidence.
Manicaland province acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka confirmed that the four suspects face formal charges under Section 45(1)(b) of the Parks and Wildlife Act, read alongside Statutory Instrument 148 of 2011, for unlawfully possessing and attempting to trade in protected wildlife trophies.
