Police in Agago and Pader district have arrested and detained four suspects over illegal possession of wildlife body parts estimated to be worth Shs 12 million in the black market.
Police say that two of the suspects were arrested in Patongo Sub County in Agago district on Tuesday week after being found in possession of 15 kilograms of Pangolin scales and a cheetah skin that they had agreed to sell to unknown businessman at Shs1 million.
The suspects were identified by Police as Mr Ivan Pakwo, 37 and Mr Joseph Ochung, 50, all said to be operating unnamed businesses in the northern Uganda districts of Lira, Pader, Gulu and Agago. The duo is being detained at Patongo Police Post.
Two other suspects were arrested in Pader district from a guest house which they had a booked into to allegedly conduct transactions on the wild life body parts in their possession.
The arrest was conducted following an operation mounted by officials from Natural Resource Conservation Network (NRCN), Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and police in Agago district police following a tip off from concerned locals.
The Officer in Charge of Criminal Investigation at Pader Central Police Station, ASP Godson Nimanya confirmed the arrest of the suspects to Acholi Times in an interview last week.
Ms Winnie Namayenje, the legal officer at Natural Resource Conservation Network, in a press release said after the arrest, the suspects were taken to Pader but would be be transferred to Agago where they allegedly committed the crimes.
According to locals who spoke on conditions of anonymity, they had seen the suspects transact an illegal business and reported the matter to police.
“We tipped the police so that in one way or the other their action could curtail such illegal business which is affecting conservaton,” one of the locals told Acholi Times.
The poaching of wildlife animals like pangolin has ascended highly across Africa over the past four years and this is fueled by the rising demand in Asia for products coveted as a traditional medicine and or as status symbols.
Last month, two people were arrested in Gulu District I possession of 33 Kilograms of Pangolin scales that were estimated to cost US$ 1,650 [Shs 5.5 million] in the black market.