A forty seven year old national of Vietnam was this Wednesday detained by the security officials at the Julius Nyerere International Airport – JNIA on Wednesday just after he was found having government trophies values at more than 180 million Tanzania Shillings.
Mr. Hamisi Seleman the Airports Police Commander for Tanzania informed reporters within the capital Dar es Salaam that Dong Van the suspect, was caught when almost boarding Qatar Airways flight into Vietnam via Doha.
He went on to say that after the security personnel at the airport grew suspicious of the accused, his luggage was right away thoroughly checked in which they discovered 65 teeth and 447 claws of lion.
He went on to say that the suspect had covered those trophies in nylon bags in a manner that it was challenging to detect these hidden trophies. Airports Police Commander remarked that the police are presently questioning this suspect to get information which could likewise bring about additional information and even uncover suspects.
In addition the Airports Police Commander said they are detaining this man for interrogation and thereafter they will file a case against the suspect. He mentioned that to obtain 65 lion teeth it means that nearly fifteen animals were murdered while nearly Twenty two lions were likewise likely to have been killed to obtain 447 claws.
He noted that that following strict actions by the Tanzania government to control killing of elephants, poachers have recently resorted to lions that have not been targeted before.
Mr. Seleman confirmed that a lot of effort was required to make sure that all types of wildlife are safe as the occurrence has shown that nearly every animal was endangered. He discussed that instances of government trophy being trafficked have reduced this year in comparison to the previous year.
For example, he explained that in the time from January to July this year, 3 foreigners were caught in distinct contrast to the earlier year when the amount of this kind of arrests was extremely high.
Mr. Seleman requested the general public to work hand in hand with security agencies in reducing this vice; adding that Anyone could tip off the Tanzania police at whatever time they suspects the existence of this kind of criminals.
Minus team work, the war against such criminals is going to be hard to end.