SEEJ-AFRICA THUMBNAIL:
- A joint police investigation culminated with the arrest on Friday (March 4th) with the arrest of a 40 yr old man found in possession of wildlife trophies.
- Bakari Barisa was arrested in Taveta Town with a small amount of pangolin scales and two ivory tusk pieces, valued by investigators at 5 million shillings. (inflated considerably)
- Taveta has made the news in the past for atypical high arrest rates of illegal grazing of livestock cases thereby inflating the national wildlife crime conviction rate, combined with a perception of integrity issues amongst criminal justice actors in Taveta Law Courts.
DCI recover wildlife trophies worth over Sh5 million
by KEVIN CHERUIYOT Online Journalist (The Star)
March 4th, 2022: The sleuths on Friday recovered wildlife trophies worth over Sh5 million in Taita Taveta County.
According to the police, the suspect identified as Bakari Barisa was arrested during the operation.
The DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) said that the intelligence operation that was conducted by a joint team of Serious Crimes detectives and their counterparts from the elite Crime Research & Intelligence Bureau, the 40-year-old man was seized in Taveta township.
The suspect was trading in pangolin scales worth Sh5 million, and elephant tusks with a street value of Sh400,000.
Posing as well-oiled unscrupulous businessmen who rule the underworld, the sleuths led the man to his waterloo before pouncing on him.
The Pangolin scales which fetch a fortune in the black market are used for spiritual protection and financial rituals, making the mammal one of the most trafficked in the world.
The suspect has since been whisked to our headquarters where he is being grilled before arraignment.
