The Sunday News
Fairness Moyana Sunday News Correspondent
A POACHING syndicate was bust recently when police in Hwange launched an operation that involved manning roadblocks and raids, leading to the arrest of three men.
The trio, Forget Shoko (26), Mujeje Makwikwi (40) and Stephen Moyo (47) were charged separately when they appeared before provincial magistrate Mrs Lindiwe Maphosa and regional magistrate Mrs Dambudzo Malunga facing various charges that included unlawful possession of raw ivory, dagga, an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
They all pleaded guilty to the charges.
The court heard that Makwikwi was offered a lift by Gift Ndlovu who was driving a Toyota Raum on his way to Victoria Falls. On approaching the 168km peg along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road they were stopped by Lupane traffic police who were manning a roadblock.
The officers requested to conduct a search of the vehicle and in the process stumbled upon a rifle hidden in the car boot. Makwikwi and Ndlovu were immediately arrested after failing to produce registration documents.
However, Ndlovu was later released after Makwikwi exonerated him from any knowledge of the firearm. Following interrogation by the police, Makwikwi revealed that he was an ivory trader who was on his way to Lubangwe to buy the elephant tusks from Shoko whom he was going to exchange the ivory for the rifle.
Armed with the information detectives went to Shoko’s homestead under the guise that they were ivory buyers. After winning his trust Shoko led them to his bedroom hut where he showed them two ivory tusks weighing 26kg and valued at $6 500 which were stashed between a mattress and bed base. He was immediately arrested.
Upon interviewing him, he implicated Moyo of 167 Mutya Township in Dete resulting in police descending on the unsuspecting dealer. He led them to a hole in his yard where he had hidden nine rounds of ammunition. Police also recovered 111 twists of dagga weighing 80 grammes wrapped in a cloth containing the ammunition.
Malunga sentenced Shoko to an effective 10 years imprisonment for illegal possession of ivory while Moyo was slapped with three months in jail for unlawful possession of nine rounds of ammunition and another two months for possession of dagga by the provincial court. Makwikwi was handed a fine of $400 failure of which would result in two months imprisonment.
Mr Onias Nyathi appeared for the State in Moyo and Makwikwi’s case while Miss Namatirai Ngwashe represented the State in Shoko’s trial.
