Maputo, 16 Feb (AIM) - Mozambique's Central Office for the Fight against Organised and Transnational Crime (GCCCOT) has filed charges against two poachers, currently being held in preventive detention.

According to a GCCCOT press release, the two men (who were not named) were caught on 27 July last year in possession of four rhinoceros horns with an estimated value on the black market of 243,600 US dollars.

The ensuing investigations showed that the two poachers had carried out their illicit activities across the three component parts of the Greater Limpopo Transborder Park - namely, the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.

The two were also involving in the smuggling of guns and vehicles, mostly between South Africa and Mozambique.

The GCCCOT says that their criminal activities allowed the two men to accumulate large sums of money, which they used to buy vehicles, luxury houses and shops. Financial investigation into this side of their activities is in the hands of the Central Assets Recovery Office.

The two are being charged with the illicit killing and sale of banned wildlife species and products, the use of prohibited weapons, the use of a false document, money laundering, the exposure of people to danger, and criminal conspiracy.