The three arrested suspects in this matter have today appeared before the Hoedspruit Periodical Court for possession of endangered species (rhino body parts).
They were all denied bail and their cases were postponed to the 28th May 2018 for bail application and for further police investigations.
They were identified as follows: Sam Judas Khosa aged 25, Juma Lucas Baloyi aged 29 who was out on R2000.00 bail for attempted murder and house robbery which occurred in the Giyani Policing area and Shadrack Thomas Nkuna aged 39 who was out on R5000.00 bail for rhino poaching which occurred in Skukuza.
The Police in Hoedspruit outside Phalaborwa, have arrested three suspected rhino poaching syndicate members at a roadblock along the R40 route during the Provincial simultaneous Joint Operation Uya Pamwe as part of OPERATION FIELA II on Friday evening, 18 May 2018.
The joint operation composed of the South African Police Service, the Hoedspruit Farm Watch, the Young Civilians on Patrol (YCOP) and the Community Policing Forum (CPF) were manning a stop and search roadblock when they stopped a speeding motor vehicle.
Upon searching the vehicle, over R200 000 in cash, ear, a nose and a tail believed to be of a white rhino were found in possession of these suspects.
The Police investigations are still continuing.
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