Nine suspects were arrested during operation “Blood Orange,” a multidisciplinary integrated take-down conducted across Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo.
The operation was carried out by the Mpumalanga Hawks Serious Corruption Investigation Unit, the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit, the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Serious Organised Crime Investigation and Crime Intelligence Units, the Hawks Tactical Response Team and the Local Criminal Record Centre, during the early hours of Friday.
The operation led to the arrests of nine suspects aged between 22 and 61. The arrest follows comprehensive investigations which included in-depth investigations into the suspects financial affairs which were conducted in collaboration with KPMG.
According to a statement by the Hawks Priority Crime Inspectorate, two of the main accused, former game rangers Daniel Maluleke, 60, and Solly Ubisi, 46, were previously arrested on 24 April 2022 on charges of corruption, money laundering and fraud linked to wildlife trafficking.
It is alleged that the pair provided tactical information to rhino poaching syndicates in exchange for substantial sums of money which were transferred into the bank accounts of their family members.
Maluleke and Ubisi were released on bail by the Bushbuckridge Magistrate Court and their case was postponed to Wednesday. .
Another joint search and seizure operation under the same operational project “Blood Orange” was conducted in Gauteng on the same day by members of Gauteng Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Tactical Operations Management Section, the SAPS K9 Endangered Species Unit and the Department of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries Environmental Management Inspectorate from Sunnyridge Primrose.
During the search and seizure operations, a black duffel bag containing what looked like rhino horn shavings was found hidden inside a compartment within a Volvo vehicle.
A small room was discovered next to the property suspected to be used for rhino horn processing. The room was found to contain a large band saw, scales, grinders, grinding discs and a hand scanner commonly used to detect micros chips.
Various financial documents and digital devices were also found and seized for further investigation. The vehicle was also confiscated and handed in at Van Rijn Deep police pound.
According to the Hawks, “two suspects are still at large and they will be traced and brought to book.” The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries revealed that a total of 259 rhinos have been poached for their horns in the first six months of this year. The number of rhinos poached between January and June this year is more than the 249 rhinos poached during the same time in 2021.