Two of Africas most wanted poachers caught

[Boela]

The long arm of the law strikes again, may justice be served....

http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/two-of-africas-most-wanted-poachers-caught-20171007


Two of Africa's most wanted poachers caught

Malawi – Two of East Africa's most wanted wildlife criminals have been arrested in Malawi for their involvement in the illegal trade of ivory.

Brothers Chancy and Patrick Kaunda of Malawi, who were the subjects of Interpol Red Notices issued at the request of Tanzania, are suspected of trying to export 781 elephant tusks from Tanzania to Malawi without the proper permits in 2013.

The illicit tusks are valued at $5.8m (R79.9m), and had been concealed in a shipment of bags of cement.

According to a statement by Interpol, the Malawi police, in cooperation with Tanzanian authorities and supported by a team deployed by Interpol, apprehended one of the fugitives in northern Malawi on Wednesday, October 4.

Based on information following the arrest, police were able to locate and apprehend the second brother just a few hours later.

The arrests took place within the framework of Operation Usalama IV, an operation led by the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) and the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO) with support from Interpol.

The two-day operation targeted transnational crimes including human, drug and arms trafficking, people smuggling, terrorism, counterfeit and illicit goods and environmental crime.

"These arrests demonstrate the commitment of Malawi and Tanzania to combating the organised crime networks active in environmental crime through an intelligence-led law enforcement approach," said Henri Fournel, Coordinator of Inetrpol's Project Wisdom.

"We congratulate our colleagues for apprehending these fugitives, and commend all our member countries in Africa and Asia for their continued dedication in the fight against international ivory trafficking," said Fournel.

Fournel said the arrests highlighted the importance of ongoing cooperation between Interpol's Project Wisdom and local authorities to tackle the illegal trafficking of ivory and rhinoceros horns in Africa.

Funded by The Wildcat Foundation, Project Wisdom encourages Interpol’s 192-member countries to prioritise international exchange of information and to expand their use of Interpol policing capability, including its colour-coded notices system to investigate, locate and apprehend environmental criminals.

 

[Nyati]

Great news

 

[Hank2211]

The long arm of the law strikes again, may justice be served....

http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/two-of-africas-most-wanted-poachers-caught-20171007

Thanks for posting.

I, too, agree that justice should be served. But I don’t believe that going after poachers - even clearly organized criminals as these two - will address the issue.

The fundamental issue - if I may be so bold - is that there is very little justice in Africa for the average person. This has the following effects, among others: all of which I suggest are both foreseeable as well as to a great extent:

1. In most countries any hunting for protein by local people is viewed as poaching, yet many Africans go to bed hungry every night, and have the same to look forward to the next day. If I had a family to feed, I would be looking at the local fauna as my God-given entitlement to provide food for my family.

Of course, this causes other issues - unregulated meat hunting can of course result in the collapse of local animal populations. But this is not an argument in favour of letting people starve - this is an argument in favour of regulating hunting for the benefit of those who live with those animals (and the rest of us).

We also have to be careful if we suggest that local people should take up animal husbandry to solve this problem. Anyone who has been to rural Africa will have seen the damage done to the land from over-grazing by domestic livestock. In addition, people who raise livestock begin to look at wildlife as being in comepetiton with their animals for grazing, or a source of disease. As a result, if the habitat change has not been enough to drive the animals out, herders will finish the job or support those who do.

Equally, as populations grow, protected areas - which are often lines on maps rather than on the ground - come to be seen as viable places to graze livestock.

I would suggest that it might be better to encourage the increase in populations of indigenous game, which is better adapted to the areas anyway, as a source of food, rather than cattle, goats or sheep.

2. The lack of regulated hunting for food leads to the ‘normalization’ of poaching as a realistic response to a real problem. In this case it is not always obvious where a line should be drawn. Once you normalize poaching, you effectively normalize all poaching, including that of mega-fauna.

3. Corruption as we know is rampant in many (most? all?) parts of Africa. This not only creates a generalized contempt for the law, it results in people believing that they need to get something because if they don’t, someone else will. I would not underestimate the corrosive impact of corruption on willingness of people to observe the law themselves, or turn in (or stop helping) those who poach.

4. Many of the animals which organized criminals want to hunt are not the type of animals you and I would have any interest in living next to. Elephants can not only ruin crops in a night, but they can also destroy villages in a search for grain bins. Lions are no treat to live with either. In neither case is there much in the way of compensation for damage done, and the potential impacts of loss of a crop on a family or village. I note that in a recent post on another thread, it was pointed out that in Namibia, if a family member is killed by wildlife, the family is paid N$5,000 - which translates to a bit less than $500 in our terms. Yes, that’s more money there than it is here, but it’s not much money anywhere.

We should be very carful about transporting Western ideas and ideals about poaching to Africa. In North America, no one needs to poach to eat, or feed their families. We generally allow native people to hunt for subsistence year-round. If livestock is impacted by wildlife, there is generally compensation available (at least in part). Locals generally have the right to address problem mega-fauna or smaller predators on an as-needed basis. And corruption, while present, is not a way of life. So by all means, let’s hammer poachers in North America.

In Africa, we might do well to see poachers not as the cause of the problems, but the result of the problems.

 

[CAustin]

Hank your last statement sums up the issue in that most poaching is the result of other problems. One is There is a population explosion in Africa. Why? Because Western nations have exported modern medical care ( often provided free while prices here skyrocket), western methods of farming and forms of government that has lessened tribal warfare. Now add in all the do good organizations that hand out everything from food to water wells and you have people with larger and larger birth rates and survival.
So now you have the family in a place where there is no work available with someone trying to feed them. As you say if it were me I would do what I could to provide.

 

[Hank2211]

Hank your last statement sums up the issue in that most poaching is the result of other problems. One is There is a population explosion in Africa. Why? Because Western nations have exported modern medical care ( often provided free while prices here skyrocket), western methods of farming and forms of government that has lessened tribal warfare. Now add in all the do good organizations that hand out everything from food to water wells and you have people with larger and larger birth rates and survival.
So now you have the family in a place where there is no work available with someone trying to feed them. As you say if it were me I would do what I could to provide.

I don’t disagree with the causes you enumerate, but what should we do?

Should we deny Africans the modern medical care that we take for granted? This really comes down to drugs, because there really isn’t that much modern medical care in Africa outside of larger urban centres. But clearly the access to drugs - to fight malaria, AIDS, and other diseases, the availability of vaccines, and to some extent the improved medical care you cite, has had the effect of reducing maternal and infant death rates, as well as prolonging life generally.

I know you didn’t say these things, but let me play devil’s advocate.

Should we say no, you can’t have these things? Let people die? You are born in the West you can have access to antibiotics, but if you are born in Africa you cannot? Or you can, but only if you can afford to come to London or Singapore (Uncle Bob) for medical treatment? Not only is this morally indefensible, it’s a recipe for violence. I for one wouldn’t want to go to AFrica to hunt with those rules in place!

And let’s not forget - this is a two way street. The first heart transplant was performed in South Africa by a South African doctor (Christiaan Barnard)!

As for providing drugs or medical care for free or at lower costs, I would still rather be here and paying, then there and getting something for free.

I believe the solution to population control will come from the people themselves, just as it did in the West. Once people have a taste of economic empowerment, and once they realize that they don’t need 10 kids so that there might be 3 left to look after them in their old age, we will see population growth rates begin to come down.

The question is does Africa have the will to do that, and more importantly, does it have the time?

 

[Royal27]

I believe the solution to population control will come from the people themselves, just as it did in the West. Once people have a taste of economic empowerment, and once they realize that they don’t need 10 kids so that there might be 3 left to look after them in their old age, we will see population growth rates begin to come down.

The question is does Africa have the will to do that, and more importantly, does it have the time?

The solution to population control is broad education for all. It's worked everywhere it's been implemented. It's the only reasonable morally defensible solution that will work in the long term. Back to throw old give the man a fish and feed him today, or teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.

This provides economic empowerment as you state and an even better incentive to not have kids than retirement planning. It makes kids a financial drain instead of a financial need. When something costs us money we think much harder about whether we need it. Kids, or at least the number of kids, are no exception. Kinda funny, "if it pays, it stays" applies to having children too.

You hit the nail on the head though. Does Africa have the time and the will to do this?