Cops hold 36 alleged rhino poachers

Thirty-six suspects have been arrested in the past three weeks in connection with crimes related to rhino poaching, police said.

Police on Monday arrested two suspects bound for Vietnam with 10 pieces of rhino horn at the OR Tambo International Airport on Monday evening.
Police on Monday arrested two suspects bound for Vietnam with 10 pieces of rhino horn at the OR Tambo International Airport on Monday evening. (Reuben Goldberg)

Thirty-six suspects have been arrested in the past three weeks in connection with crimes related to rhino poaching, police said.

The Rhino 8 Task Team also confiscated four vehicles, 12 unlicensed firearms, including rifles, ammunition and silencers, a hacksaw, axes, knives, 27 cellphones, three rhino horns and an elephant tusk.

The arrests took place in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

Most of the suspects have appeared in court on charges of unlawful possession of firearms, unlawful possession of ammunition, possession of dangerous weapons, trespassing, hunting a protected animal, possession of the remains of a wild animal, possession of suspected stolen property and or being in the country illegally.