Three would-be poachers pleaded guilty in court on Friday 11 March 2022 after being apprehended by rangers inside Kruger National Park.
The three culprits were arrested on 18 April 2021 when rangers working at the Pretoriuskop section of the park noticed something unusual, raising suspicions that intruders had entered the park.
The rangers then began a search with tracker dogs and a SANParks helicopter, spotting three suspects in the area before apprehending them. The suspects had a 375 H&H action rifle with a fitted silencer in their possession.
The three were sentenced to two years on the count of trespassing and five years on the count of conspiracy to commit a crime.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela complimented the relationship between SAPS and the park rangers.
‘We further applaud the good working relationship that exists amongst the team of field rangers, the investigators, as well as the Prosecution Team and the Judiciary,’ Manamela commented. ‘We also hope that the sentence will serve as a lesson that, one way or another, there is punishment for lawbreakers.’
Picture: Getaway Gallery
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