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Kinshasa, January 26 ICCN , in collaboration with Conserv Congo and the judicial Police of the court of Matete, and has supported a major arrest and seizure operation in central Kinshasa resulting in the confiscation of 1,054 kilograms of pangolin scales and a lion’s skull intended for illegal international trade. Two suspected Congolese traffickers were arrested and placed in detention, while the seized wildlife products have been secured by judicial authorities. The pangolin is currently recognized as the most trafficked mammal in the world.

In January 2021, Nigeria seized pangolin scales and tusks and bones from endangered species hidden in a container of furniture materials. The seized materials are used in traditional Chinese medicine despite having no medicinal value. Studies have suggested that pangolins, the most-smuggled animals in the world, may have been an intermediate host of the coronavirus that was discovered in an outdoor farmers market in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. Customs officials said the contraband consisted of 162 sacks of pangolin scales and 57 sacks of mixed animal parts, including ivory and…

South Africa is no stranger to wildlife crime as shown in Operation Thunder, an Interpol-led effort against environmental crime in the broadest sense of the words. The worldwide enforcement operation against wildlife and timber crime co-ordinated by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation (WCO) disrupted crime networks and saw hundreds of arrests internationally, the France-headquartered policing body said.