A senior botanical horticulturist with the South African National Botanical Institute (SANBI) and two police officers appeared in the Springbok Magistrates' Court on Thursday. They face charges of fraud and corruption related to poached plants, according to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). The two police officers, Captain Karel du Toit and Warrant Officer Leonard Landrew, face multiple charges, including fraud, theft, defeating the administration of justice, contravention of the Tourism Act, and corruption, Northern Cape NPA spokesperson Mojalefa Senokoatsane explained in a statement. Du Toit was head of the Springbok Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit at SAPS. He has led many operations, leading to arrests of poachers of endangered succulent plants in the Northern Cape. GroundUp previously reported on one operation in March 2022, where police confiscated about 5 500 succulents during a late-night roadblock. At the time, SANBI estimated that over 1.5 million succulents had been removed from the wild and many of these plants have been red-listed, meaning it is vulnerable or endangered. Outside of court on Thursday, Du Toit told GroundUp that the case was a "wild goose-chase". He said that he has a "passion for conservation"