Each and every case we deal with is important to us. This one, however, hit home for the entire team.

This office was approached in 2019 and tasked to investigate various unsolved rhino poaching activities which had occurred over the course of two years. In these incidents, multiple Rhinos had been killed and their horns removed. Some shootings involved mothers and their calves.

An investigative approach was taken which included interviews with specific anti-poaching rangers themselves, using polygraph testing where possible, in an attempt to explore any possible criminal involvement on the part of these critically placed operatives.

Over the course of the investigation, led by two senior members of the investigative team at True Lies Forensics, it became apparent that the ranger compliment in question had been compromised.

Out of a total of thirteen rangers subsequently interviewed, nine made admissions as to secondary involvement in the poaching activities under investigation. Those admissions ranged from guilty knowledge of those incidents, to the receipt of cash from the perpetrators in the form of bribes. Three of the parties interviewed admitted to personal involvement in those crimes and were subsequently arrested by the specialised SAPS Endangered Species Unit. Only one of the rangers was exonerated from any form of illicit involvement in these crimes.

All evidence gathered was properly processed and subsequently handed over to the aforementioned SAPS Unit, for application to their further investigation into the matter. This, in turn, led to a marathon follow-up over hundreds of kilometres, resulting in the identification and exposure of numerous ring leaders, including a Sangoma and a foreign national citizen, of primary significance to the criminal organisation in question. Multiple evidentiary exhibits were also seized in the raid on several residences which took place that night. Lephalale CAS 186/06/2019 refers.

Outstanding assistance was provided by members of the Endangered Species Unit and we applaud them for their exemplary service and dedication. This case demonstrates the power of communal focus by members of the private sector in conjunction with law enforcement agencies, in order to achieve great success in the fight against organised crime and the pursuit of justice.