TWO Harare businessmen have been arrested and charged with unlawful possession of unregistered or unmarked ivory after being found with 17 elephant horns, a rhino horn and five pieces of ivory, all valued at more than $160 000.
SENIOR COURT REPORTER
Washington Kangarade (39) of house number 342 Harare Drive Pomona and Tendai Mugomeza (38) of 223 Sherwood Drive Avondale West last week appeared at the Harare Magistrates Court on different court records.
Both men were not asked to plead when they appeared before provincial magistrate Tendai Mahwe who remanded them in custody to Monday after advising them to apply for bail at the High Court.
The court heard that Kangarade was arrested last Wednesday at his Pomona house in Harare as he allegedly tried to flee with the rhino horn. Twelve elephant tusks and five pieces of ivory were later recovered stashed in a sewer inspection chamber at his house.
Mugomeza was also arrested at his residence where five elephant tasks were allegedly found in his possession.
Kangarade is also facing an additional charge of unlawful possession of a trophy of a specially protected animal.
The court heard that detectives from the Police Minerals Unit received information that Kangarade was in illegal possession of the tusks. The police officers went to his residence where they requested to carry out a physical search of his property.
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Apparently upon arrival at the house, the officers met Kangarade by the gate and advised him of their mission before he returned into the house on the pretext that he was going to collect some keys. While inside the house, Kangarade allegedly took a rhino horn which was in a plastic bag and attempted to flee by jumping over his security wall, the court heard.
The officers, however, managed to apprehend him and after questioning, Kangarande failed to produce a valid licence for the horns leading to his arrest.
The horn was taken to national parks for examination and it weighed four kilogrammes with a $120 000 value, while the elephant tusks weighed 36, 2kg valued at $9 050. Mugomeza’s five elephant tusks weighed 127, 6kg and were valued at $31 900.
