It started with a man from Maua Town in Meru County in possession of an extremely rare item and ended a few weeks ago in the Kajiado Town jail. How he found it is a mystery, but the tiny, palm-sized keratin pyramid came from a rhino. The man thought he could make considerable cash from selling this rhino horn, but he needed a buyer. He started asking around in Malili, a town along the Mombasa Road, where he thought he’d fly under the radar. Instead, our informer network was tipped off. He needed to be caught trying to sell the rhino horn to be arrested, but there were no takers in Malili. The trail went cold for several months but picked up again in Kajiado Town, a far bigger and busier location. Our intelligence team posed as a buyer. After weeks of back and forth, he finally agreed to meet at a petrol station, where the Kenya Wildlife Service took over. Following more than a year of cat and mouse, he was finally arrested. This is a success story not only for our intelligence network, but for Kenya’s efforts as a whole stamping out illegal wildlife crime. While southern Africa is dealing with a surge in rhino poaching, Kenya is not. This is largely thanks to a combination of political will, sustained conservation efforts, and a hefty punishment for anyone caught poaching or dealing in items like ivory or rhino horn. This tiny piece of horn bore no cut marks, likely an old piece that had broken off naturally. Opportunism and possibly desperation turned this man into a trafficker. Even though he didn’t kill the rhino, he still faces life in prison for attempting to sell the horn. It sends a strong message to anyone, opportunistic or otherwise, that such activity will not be tolerated.