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| The suspects |
Their failure to appear in court raised
the possibility of their escape as two of the three main traffickers were from
the Central African Republic where the majority of the pangolin scales were
smuggled into Cameroon shortly before their seizure in Bonanpriso, Douala. One
of the traffickers had boarded a plane from Bangui to Douala for the transaction
before his arrest.
Officials shall be finding out if the
traffickers shall appear in court after failing to do so on two occasions with
anger clearly rising in some quarters involved in the matter. It should be
noted that during a crackdown operation, it took several hours for a full team
of police officers from the judicial police and wildlife officers to track and
arrest the 6 traffickers who belong to an international syndicate of pangolin
scales trafficking.
The traffickers demonstrated elaborate
planning to avoid arrest while some attempted to run away but were stopped by the
team. These efforts may have been in vain, if suspicions are confirmed that the
traffickers have slipped back to the Central African Republic. And it equally
raises the question as to why some of the bail bonds are very soft and provide
no deterrence that may force the accused to appear in court. Some wildlife law
enforcement experts argue that it is
dangerous to grant bails in cases concerning flagrant delicto or persons caught
red handed because they simply return to their trade, trafficking in wildlife
species, whereas they should have been behind bars.
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| The seized Pangolin scales |
Majority of the scales that were
confiscated in Douala were from the giant pangolin which is an animal that is
threatened with extinction, The operation that led to the confiscation, was
technically assisted by LAGA, a wildlife
law enforcement support body that assists government in the application of the
wildlife law. Prior investigations showed the traffickers were linked to rhino
horn and lion trophies trafficking.
In January 2017, the Bonaberi Court of First
Instance sentenced two Chinese nationals
who were arrested with over 5 tons of pangolin scales ready for illegal export to
a jail term of 3 months. This decision was considered in many quarters as an
extremely weak punishment for people who had been responsible for the killing
of thousands of pangolins, destroying the country’s endangered wildlife in the
process. These rulings and other decisions at the level of the judiciary is becoming
a matter of concern for conservationists because the traffickers may simply
return to running their illegal business, at the expense of the country’s
endangered wildlife.
