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It could have been the proverbial pot of gold. Instead, it became at best, an opportunity lost in the fight against transnational organized wildlife crime. On February 2, a Nairobi area court acquitted Hoang Thi Diu, a female of apparent Vietnamese/Chinese dual citizenship, of charges relating to the dealing and possession of 145 kilograms of ivory, rhino horn, lion's teeth, and claws. Objectively, and considering the evidence before the court, the verdict was not incorrect.

A suspect has been arrested after being found with two endangered pangolins inside his home in Kuruman in the Northern Cape.

Lion bones are used to replace tiger bones in fortified tiger wine and Traditional Chinese Medicines. Lion bones are also carved into jewellery. South Africa's legal trade of lion bones to Asia has opened up a fast growing illegal trade of the animal carcass. On Friday, a 43 year old man was arrested for the illegal possession of lion bones destined for Asia.

This past weekend, police have seized large quantities of abalone in the Eastern Cape and Free State with both consignments allegedly heading to Bloemfontein. In the latest arrest, a 46-year-old suspect was apprehended and police recovered abalone worth over R1 million.

It was a mistake. Ten tons of ivory and 190 kilograms of rhino horn were sold over a seven-year period, according to the indictment. It was actually much more than that. Much, much more. Moazu Kromah, a Liberian national, had pled guilty in March to three charges relating to wildlife trafficking in Africa. In his letter pleading for leniency submitted to the Southern District of New York, he thanked the court for the opportunity to "give some information about myself and the circumstances that led me to make the mistakes which bring me before you."

One of three suspects, who were denied bail by the Oshakati Magistrate's Court after allegedly being found in possession of two rhino horns, is appealing the decision in the Oshakati High Court. Petrus Mashuna (35) from Iitapa village in Omusati is hoping to reverse the decision by Magistrate Makapa Castro Simasiku to deny him bail.

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.