Congo: two animal product traffickers arrested

They were in possession of two panther skins and giant pangolin scales.

The two alleged wildlife offenders are said to belong to a mafia network. They were apprehended in early April with two panther skins and giant pangolin scales. One of them reportedly bought these products in the sub-prefecture of Gamboma, in the Plateaux department, and transported them to Oyo to resell them. The two panther skins and pangolin scales were stored for several days in the second person’s house in Oyo.

Their arrest was made possible thanks to the intervention of the gendarmerie agents from the Owando region and the Oyo company, in collaboration with the agents of the departmental directorate of forest economy of the Cuvette, technically supported by the Wildlife Law Enforcement Support Project (Palf).

It should be noted that these two traffickers risk a firm sentence of up to five years and fines of up to five million CFA francs each.

It is worth mentioning that in the Republic of Congo, the elephant, the panther, and the giant pangolin are protected animal species.