In a significant victory in the fight against wildlife trafficking, the joint team of the Special Wildlife Investigation Unit (SWIU), acting on intelligence, recently arrested the alleged ringleader of wildlife trafficker Amadu Bah, Grand Gedeh County.
Bah was apprehended for allegedly attempting to illegally smuggle pangolin from the County. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammal in the world--with demand primarily in Asia and in growing amounts in Africa--for their meat and scales. There is also demand in the United States for pangolin products, particularly for their leather to be used in boots, bags, and belts.
During a joint operation by SWIU's officers comprising the Liberia National Police (LNP), Forestry Development Authority (FDA), the Customs Service of the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) along with international partners, 178 Kilos of both white and black pangolin scales was confiscated and the dismantlement of a trafficking network that had been operating in the county for years.
The scales were held in warehouses operated and controlled by Bah, an international pangolin trafficker.
The Intelligence and Investigation was able to advance and broaden SWIU's investigation through that they were able to obtain an Interpol Red/Arrest Notice to enforce Bah's arrest from everywhere he would have resided.
Bah has been charged with Cruelty to wildlife species, Illegal killing of wildlife spices (Pangolin), Illegal trafficking of wildlife species (Pangolin scales), and Illegal possession of wildlife.
The suspect has been remanded in custody at the Zwedru Correctional Palace, pending his first appearance in court. For the fifteen months of its existence, SWIU has arrested and forward to court several suspects, while eleven of them have been convicted.
Further arrests and prosecutions are foreseen as ongoing investigations progress. During the SWIU's operations, the following rescues and seizures have been made: 1.4 tons of pangolin scales, 12 Dwarf crocodiles, 3 slender-snouted crocodiles (Critically Endangered - less than 500 anywhere in the world - team rescued 3 breeding females), 26 African Grey parrots, 3 Sooty Mangabey Monkeys, 2 Chimpanzees, and 3 Pangolins.
