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The recent arrest of a police officer who allowed a Chinese man to pass through our airport security system with a suitcase of rhino horns once again brings to the fore the mischief and illicit dealings between poachers and law enforcement agents.

Suspected rhino and elephant poachers have gone missing in Etosha National Park after an alleged shootout with the anti-poaching unit of the Namibian police.

The Namibian authorities don’t seem to be in any hurry to shut down a rhino horn smuggling syndicate that has infiltrated security at Windhoek’s airport, writes John Grobler.

The arrest of a Chinese citizen who allegedly managed to smuggle 18 rhinoceros horns out of Namibia last week landed a member of the Namibian Police in the dock in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura yesterday.

A sergeant in the Namibian police has been arrested in connection with a case in which a Chinese national was arrested with 18 rhino horns at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg last week. Sergeant Pendapala Abraham Iitula,42, who worked at Hosea Kutako International Airport, appeared before the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura yesterday on a charge of defeating and obstructing the course of justice.

Namibia is a country hit by devastating poaching there is certainly no doubt about that. Activists and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism have particularly turned the tide against this surge for rhino horns and elephant ivory and while it has led to a number of arrests, there is still no end in sight to this disturbing phenomenon.

Police inspector general Sebastian Ndeitunga yesterday said he will take stiff measures on officers who were on duty at Hosea Kutako International Airport when the Chinese national smuggled 18 rhino horns out of Namibia.

Full-scale investigations have been launched into activities at the Hosea Kutako International Airport after it was determined that the 18 rhino horns that a Chinese national was found in possession of in Johannesburg, were detected by scanners at Hosea Kutako International Airport. However, even though the scanners detected the rhino horns in the luggage of Ye ZhiWe, 28, who was in transit from Windhoek to Hong Kong, he was still allowed to board a South African Airways flight bound for Johannesburg.

A Chinese man was arrested on Wednesday in South Africa when he was found with 18 rhino horns worth R6,6 million which are suspected to have been smuggled from Namibia.

A Chinese national in transit from Windhoek to Hong Kong was arrested with 18 rhino horns at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Wednesday afternoon. Namibian Police spokesperson Edwin Kanguatjivi yesterday confirmed that the 28-year-old Chinese man was arrested in South Africa after he departed from Hosea Kutako International Airport on Wednesday morning at 06:40.

South African police Thursday said they had arrested a Hong Kong-bound Chinese man found with 18 rhino horns hidden in his luggage.

A Chinese national who departed Hosea Kutako International Airport bound for Johannesburg this morning at 06:40, was bust with 18 rhino horns in his luggage at Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. He was bound for Hong Kong. At this stage, it is not known whether the horns originate from Namibia although experts say it is highly likely as he departed from Windhoek. The horns were in a sealed and wrapped suitcase. He is in custody in Johannesburg and investigations continue.

The Minister of Environment and Tourism has applauded the Namibian courts for sending to jail four Chinese nationals arrested in 2014 for rhino horn smuggling.

Four Chinese citizens sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment each in connection with an attempt to smuggle rhinoceros horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014, will appeal against their conviction and sentences.

The State has asked that the four Chinese men found guilty of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin from Namibia should be sentenced to six years in prison.

Four Chinese citizens convicted of having tried to smuggle 14 rhinoceros horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014 were sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment each at the end of their trial today.

Magistrate doubles up on State's request in rhino case. Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing and Pu Xuexin were each sentencef to 14 years imprisonment of which 30 months were suspended for 5 years. The so- called kingpin Wang Hui, also got 14 years of which 28 months was suspended for 5 years. The suspensions came with conditions.

Namibia could lose its entire rhinoceros population in the next 10 years if the rate at which poachers have been killing these endangered animals in recent years continues unchecked. Poachers have killed 201 rhinos in Namibia since 2011, and their crimes have not only had an environmental impact, but also an economic one.

The poaching case of former Brave Warriors team medic Gerson Kandjii and five other accused on Friday was postponed to 27 February 2017 for plea and trial in the Okahao Magistrate's Court.

Two of the five men arrested in Opuwo last year for being found in possession of rhino horns were on Friday sentenced to 11 years and six months’ imprisonment in the Opuwo Magistrate's Court.

The evidence of the Chinese nationals who were arrested in Namibia’s biggest rhino horn smuggling case to date, was rejected by Magistrate Alexis Diergaardt as false and they were found guilty of the possession and export of controlled wildlife products. The landmark case, which has been dragging on for more than two years, finally came to an end on Friday when Diergaardt made her judgment at the Windhoek Regional Court in Katutura finding the four Chinese nationals guilty on two of the three counts they were charged with. Diergaardt said that she found the four men…

The discovery of a hoard of rhino horns and a leopard skin in two suitcases at Hosea Kutako International Airport in March 2014 led to the conviction of four Chinese citizens on two criminal charges in the Windhoek Regional Court on Friday.

Four Chinese citizens who were accused of having tried to smuggle a hoard of rhino horns and one leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014 were found guilty on two charges in the Windhoek Regional Court today.

After a two-year investigation, John Grobler exposes the totem-based networks facilitating transnational rhino horn smuggling and defeating the criminal justice system’s pursuit of suspects.

Three Zambians and a Namibian, the latter suspected to be a former policeman, were arrested last Friday after poaching a black rhino at the Erindi private game reserve near Omaruru.

A Chinese citizen who tried to send a piece of rhino horn out of Namibia in a parcel was sentenced to pay fines totalling N$40 000 or serve a two-year prison term yesterday.

Seven alleged rhino poachers were refused bail last week in the Omararu Magistrate's Court following protests and petitions by the community against their release.

Police arrested two Chinese businessmen for alleged extortion, attempted murder and robbery at Walvis Bay after they held another Chinese businessman at gunpoint on Saturday.

The delivery of the verdict in the trial of four Chinese citizens charged with having tried to smuggle a hoard of rhino horns out of Namibia in March 2014, has again been postponed by a month.

The long-awaited judgement in the trail in which four Chinese nationals stand accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns worth millions out of Namibia has again been postponed. A large media contingent yesterday gathered at court ready to hear the judgement in the largest rhino horn smuggling trial in Namibia, but had to turn away disappointed when it was postponed for almost a month to 13 September.

Thirty-five rhino carcasses have been discovered that were poached last year, raising the 2015 figure to 125 rhinos killed. The Ministry of Environment and Tourism yesterday announced this new statistic and said poachers had killed 37 rhinos so far this year.

The environment minister, Pohamba Shifeta, described the latest rhino and elephant poaching figures as "a pity", saying his ministry will do all it can to keep these figures from rising further. According to figures released by the minister yesterday, three more rhino carcasses, possibly poached for their horns, were recently discovered in the Etosha National Park, pushing the figure of known rhino mortalities up to 37 this year, which brings the total rhino deaths since last year to 162.

The rhino-poaching court case of former Brave Warriors team doctor Gerson Kandjii and four other accused was postponed to 23 September after he and co-accused Stephanus David failed to turn up at the Okahao Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Two men, aged 32 and 40, were arrested by members of Namibian police’santi-poaching unit in Etosha. They were found in possession of unlicensed firearms. The police reacted to a tip-off from a member of the public who said the men were planning an incursion into the park.

The three men who were arrested on Friday with freshly sawn-off rhino horns at a mobile police roadblock outside Otavi were ordered to remain in custody with their first court appearance yesterday.

Bail was denied to three accused rhino poachers who appeared before the Otavi Magistrate’s Court yesterday on charges of rhino poaching and illegal possession of three rhino horns. Tjihange Japyangula, Tjingee Kaukamburua and Tjambira Paulus are each charged with one count of hunting of specially protected game and one count of possession of controlled game products.

Deputy minister of environment Tommy Nambahu has repeated his stance that the release of suspected rhino poachers is hampering the ministry's efforts to fight the scourge.

John Grobler visits Okahao, a sleepy settlement near Etosha National Park at the centre of the poaching plague threatening the world’s last viable population of critically endangered black rhinos.

Three carcasses of black rhinos were discovered in the Uukwaluudhi conservancy situated between Oshakati and Kamanjab last week on Thursday.

Two apparently well-connected businessmen accused of smuggling rhino horns have been released on bail.

Two businessmen who spent a week in police custody after they were arrested in connection with an alleged attempt to sell four rhino horns, have been released on bail of N$50 000 each. Windhoek resident Tangi Sheefeni Amon Namwandi (32), who is also known as 'Mox', and Jairus Shaalukeni (32), who lives at Ongwediva, were granted bail when they made a second appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate's Court in Katutura on a charge of possessing or dealing in rhino horns on Thursday last week.

Four rhino horns were found in possession of two Namibian suspects arrested during a police operation in Windhoek on Wednesday.

The second recent court development followed the sensational arrest of a young, up-and-coming Windhoek businessman named “Mox” Namwandi. Who is he? John Grobler tracks his connections.

The judgement which has been described as Namibia’s biggest rhino horn smuggling case to date, will finally be delivered next month. Four Chinese nationals stand accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns worth more than N$2 million out of Namibia.

Private conservation group COVER (Conserving our Valuable Rhino and Elephant) has halted its anti-poaching operations, due to an ongoing legal battle against the founder of the organisation. The court case, which is pending in the High Court, stems from an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) into the alleged misuse of funds raised for rhino protection during the so-called Black Tie event last year, which included a wine auction.

Four Chinese citizens accused of having attempted to smuggle two suitcases filled with rhino horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia in March 2014, are due to hear the verdict in their trial next month.

More than two years after the biggest rhino horn smuggling case in Namibia was uncovered, the defence rested on Tuesday after the alleged kingpin that was pulling the strings in Namibia took the stand. The case, which involves four Chinese nationals Li Xiaoliang, Li Zhibing, Pu Xuexin and Wang Hui, was postponed in the Windhoek Regional Court for closing arguments on 20 May. The four men were arrested for trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns worth more than N$2.3 million and a leopard skin valued at N$50 000 out of Namibia.

Environment and tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta is concerned about the increasing poaching and illegal trafficking of wildlife products. He told visiting Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock in Windhoek on Tuesday that Namibia could use more help and support from the international community to end the poaching and trafficking of wildlife products.

The Namibian Police is offering a reward of N$60 000 for any reliable information which could lead to the arrest of people suspected to be involved in poaching. Suspected poachers are mainly targeting Namibia's rhino and elephant population for horns and tusks respectively, which fetch lucrative sums, particularly in Asian countries.

What was described as excellent cooperation between the Omaruru District Watch and the police resulted in two white rhinos being saved from poaching and four suspected poachers arrested.