On the Trail - Robin des Bois

The Cyanide Channel
Hwange National Park, Province of Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe
On August 24, rangers on patrol heard gunshots coming from the edge of the Hwange National Park (15,000 km 2 ).
They reported to local police who escorted them to the area. 2 elephants lay dead, their tusks ripped off. This atrociously
common case will lead to the discovering a criminal organization of a whole other dimension.
Following this event, a careful search of the park revealed several bodies of dead and decomposing elephants.
Traces found on the crime scene led policemen to the home of 2 brothers, ages 53 and 46, Sipho Mafu and Misheck
Mafu. 17 tusks are found in a hiding place revealed by the elder of the 2. A trap is set up and 4 accomplices were
arrested.
The puzzle made up of information made public since August 24 th partially paints out the cyanide network in
Zimbabwe. Some elements still remain uncertain, unclear and sometimes contradictory. The first poisoning campaigns
started a few years ago. In 2011, wild animals died after poisoning of ponds in the Gonarezhou, Mana Pools,
Charara and Matuzadona Reserves. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force says that Chinese miners used poisoned
feed to kill elephants. These facts were not confirmed by the National parks administration.
For the Hwange Park’s cyanide channel, the Mafu brothers served as instructors and distributors. They were paid
US$ 900 for this job. A former schoolteacher is thought to have supplied the cyanide. He had been supplied himself
by a suspect now on the run and who holds interests in a local gold mine. Mixed with salt, the cyanide was then
poured into water spots, and placed in buckets or natural salt pools along trails favored by the elephant herds.
Cyanide was given out to villagers of Pelandaba and Pumula in the District of Tsholotsho. At least 26 villagers were
interrogated by police about this. 240 kg of cyanide were discovered. Villagers who would voluntarily turn in the
cyanide would not face charges. Such tolerance has raised protest in the ranks of the opposition party. Inspectors
in charge of the case estimated that about 500 kg of cyanide are still in circulation. The initial illegal stock in a home
of Bulawayo could have contained up to 3 tones.
The main suspects have been in contact with each other for a long time. In 2008, the elder of the Mafu brothers
sold 25kg of ivory to a wholesaler who then sold it in Harare. In 2010, that same person received 54kg of ivory from
one of Mafu’s accomplices that where at least for part turned into bracelets sold in the Cape in South Africa for
US$ 13,000. In 2011, the Hwange park killers are thought to have delivered 130kg of ivory. Transportation toward
South Africa apparently went wrong and the convoy was victim of a hold-up. In August 2012, a new 240kg were
delivered. This time the convoy was intercepted and searched by 4 policemen in Harare. The ivory was found.
The policemen demanded US$ 10, 000 to let the traffickers go with the ivory. The deal went through. Trafficking
seems to continue in 2013 (Cf. Seizure of 447 kg of ivory on September 23 2013 in Dubai Airport arriving
from Zimbabwe).
On The Trail # 2. Robin des Bois
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