Kenyan policeman, Congolese arrested with 600 kg of rhino horns

Kenyan authorities arrested in Nairobi a police officer and two other suspects including a Congolese related to smuggling 600 kilogrammes of rhino horns.

Corporal Henry Mokua Onsongo, Eliud Wanyonyi Wafubwa and Richard Ngeleka Kalatanda, a Congolese, were arrested on Monday at a Nairobi hotel by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers.

A statement from KWS said they found the three in a motor vehicle at the hotel where Onsongo threatened to shoot them with his official firearm, but was overpowered and later disarmed.

The three suspects who were later arraigned in court all pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession of rhino horns. They have been remanded awaiting review of bond terms application later this week.

Conservationists said rising demand for ivory and rhino horn globally has caused a poaching crisis in recent years across Kenya in particular and Africa as a whole with over 1,000 rhinos having been killed on the continent in the past two years.

The KWS has enhanced the round-the-clock surveillance at all Kenya's entry exit and entry points while sniffer dogs and their handlers have proved incorruptible and have once again outsmarted the smugglers. Endi