Off the wire
• Negotiation only solution to Israel-Palestine conflict: Serbian president  • Kenya's tea production drops as prices remain steady  • FDI inflows into Africa fuel expansion of ICT sector: experts  • 1st LD-Writethru: China supports entrepreneurship in rural regions  • U.S. stocks open higher as selloff ease  • Chinese investors become second largest foreign players in French vineyards  • Kenya woos French investors, ink bilateral deals  • 2nd Ld-Writethru-China Focus: President Xi expects Panchen Lama to be a patriot  • G7 unable to tackle global issues: Russian lawmaker  • Urgent: Explosion rocks N.E. India town  
You are here: 　 Home

Kenya's most wanted poacher nabbed

Xinhua, June 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenyan authorities Wednesday arrested most wanted poacher and recovered a firearm and several rounds of ammunition in the Tana River county.

A combined team of Kenya Defense Force, National Intelligence Service and the police were involved in the arrest of Mohammed Bulle, alias Gosi Garsen.

Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) said Bulle was on radar over series of poaching in Tsavo, Taita, Maasai Mara national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country.

Detectives were on Wednesday also investigating if Bulle has links with terrorism activities including plotting and funding the activities.

KWS lead investigator for Coast region Gideon Kebati told Xinhua that the suspect was captured in a guest house and handed over to team of detectives awaiting to be transferred to Nairobi for further interrogation.

A Kenya court had issued warrant against Bulle after he jumped bail in a 2013 poaching case. The recovered rifle has been handed to ballistic experts in Nairobi to establish if it was used in past poaching cases.

"Two mobile phones were also seized from him and are being analyzed. We believe he is the mastermind of poaching in the country. He has been on the run for long but finally we caught him. " said Kebati.

Police were also investigating whether the suspect was involved in the seized tons of ivory in Thailand and Singapore that were sneaked through the port of Mombasa undetected.

Last week, interior Cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery said intelligence by the police shows that proceeds from poaching are being used to finance terrorism.

Nkaiserry linked the latest consignment seized in Singapore and Thailand to the outlawed Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), adding that it was meant to finance and facilitate their criminal activities.

MRC, which is an increasingly violent Islamist group, is charging that the coastal people's rights to land and property ownership has been violated and has carried out several attacks.

The group has, however, denied the allegation. Endi