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Sixteen suspects were arrested in connection with wildlife crimes in the past week. Eight of the suspects are Namibians and the rest Zambians. Statistics provided by the Protected Resource Division of the Namibian police and the Intelligence and Investigation Unit of the environment ministry indicate that a total of 21 wildlife products were seized last week.

The Namibian Police last week seized an array of wildlife products comprising elephant tusks, kudu horns and hides, civet skin and warthog carcasses, amongst others.

The Blue Rhino Task Team arrested two men in Rundu at the start of the weekend after they were caught red handed with four elephant tusks in their possession.

The hunt for the daring suspects who struck inside the Etosha National Park during Friday night has already started after the carcass of a black rhino that was shot and dehorned was found along the road that leads from Namutoni to Halali in the Etosha National Park early on Saturday morning.

One-hundred pieces of elephant tusk were seized and two suspects were arrested in Katutura during an operation by the Blue Rhino Task Team last week.

Namibia is among the countries with the lowest level of organised crime in Africa. This is according to a report by the Enact project, financed by the European Union (EU).

Members of the Blue Rhino Task Team arrested Viega Nghinaanye Shipahu as the sixth suspect in the matter where 34 rhino horns along with large amounts of cash in local and foreign currency were stolen from a safe in a house in Outjo at the beginning of August. 

Two men were arrested for being found in possession of 100 pieces of ivory, a summary of wildlife crime statistics from 30 September to 6 October details.

A business man based in northern Namibia who is charged over the poaching of two rhinos near Etosha National Park is facing an extended stay in jail, after his appeal against being denied bail failed in the Windhoek High Court last week.

Namibia's air, sea and land ports in have been identified as key hubs for the export of illegal wildlife products and training is crucial for officials to identify contraband when people and cargo move through checkpoints. In this regard customs officials and police officers from Windhoek and Walvis Bay received training in species identification during the use of baggage and container scanners to detect smuggled wildlife contraband.

While two suspects in a multimillion-dollar rhino-horn theft case were released on bail this week, an alleged poaching kingpin was denied permission to appeal against the refusal of his bail application. Petrus Shihepo Shimuningeni has been fingered as the mastermind behind a poaching syndicate which targeted a private game farm near Etosha National Park in the Kunene Region, where at least 13 rhinos have been poached this year.

The case involving four Chinese men accused of smuggling 14 rhino horns worth more than N$2 million out of Namibia has been postponed to today. Li Zhibing, Li Xiaoliang and Pu Xuexin were caught with 14 rhino horns worth N$2.3 million as well as a leopard skin worth about N$50 000 in their luggage on March 24 last year at Hosea Kutaku International Airport. Wang Hui was arrested later this year at the Windhoek Country Club and Resort. 

One of the Chinese men arrested for trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns worth more than N$2 million out of Namibia has taken full culpability for the crime, saying his three co-accused knew nothing about it. The trial started yesterday at the Regional Court in Katutura. Li Zhibing pleaded guilty to the unlawful export or attempt to export rhino horns and a leopard skin.

One of the Chinese men accused of trying to smuggle 14 rhino horns out of Namibia in March last year admitted yesterday that he knew he was carrying controlled wildlife products in two suitcases which he was planning to take to China.

A 10-month-long investigation by John Grobler uncovers the political and commercial agendas driving the world’s largest black rhino population towards extinction.

The police are determined to get to the bottom of the rhino poaching problem regardless of the status of the people involved, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, who is leading an anti-poaching operation in the Etosha National Park and surrounding areas in Omusati and Kunene, has warned. On Wednesday, a team of investigating officers was sent from pillar to post by three suspected poachers who had pledged to give their full cooperation to the police.

International tourism to Africa reached record levels in 2013, with 56 million tourists bringing in N$410 billion. Significantly, 80% of them came to see the continent's wildlife. This valuable economic injection could increase by 10% a year – provided poachers don't wipe out the iconic species that safari goers travel here to see.

The Tourism minister has accused some traditional leaders and businesspeople of being used as middlemen by poaching syndicates.

Government yesterday condemned the random shooting of Namibian citizens suspected of being poachers at the Botswana border, saying the authorities in that country are too quick to pull the trigger.

The police have made significant progress in their investigation of the recently discovered mass killings of rhino in the Etosha National Park. The death toll is expected to rise, if information at the sites of buried carcasses prove to be correct. A large number of suspects have been arrested and the list includes employees within the park. The Oshana police regional commander, Commissioner Ndahangwapo Kashihakumwa, is heading a team of investigators permanently deployed in Etosha since June 1.