{"id":23973,"date":"2022-08-01T14:59:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T14:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained"},"modified":"2022-08-01T15:10:31","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T15:10:31","slug":"rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained","title":{"rendered":"Rhino poaching kingpin detained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. <\/strong><\/span>The Mozambican authorities on Friday detained two men in Marracuene district, about 30 kilometres north of Maputo, in possession of eight rhinoceros horns.<\/p>\n

One of them is 45 year old Simon Valoi, better known as \u201cBoss Navarra\u201d, who is believed to head the country\u2019s most dangerous poaching ring, in the province of Gaza.<\/p>\n

According to a report in the independent newssheet \u201cCarta de Mocambique\u201d, Valoi is also wanted in South Africa on two charges of murder. His whereabouts have never been a mystery \u2013 he lives in Massingir district, in the southern Mozambican province of Gaza. His home is in the settlement of Mavodze, inside the Limpopo National Park.<\/p>\n

He achieved a certain level of fame in 2015 when a German journalist from the magazine \u201cDer Spiegel\u201d, Batholomaus Grill, and the Swiss photographer Toby Selander were investigating rhino poaching. The poachers kidnapped the two journalists and threatened to kill them. It was clear to the journalists that Navarra and his gang enjoyed protection from the Massingir police and local prosecution services.<\/p>\n

Navarra and his accomplice, 32 year old Paulo Zucula, were detained last Tuesday. The arrests were the result of joint work undertaken by Mozambique\u2019s National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic), and various wildlife protection bodies, notably the Wildlife Justice Commission.<\/p>\n

During the operation, the authorities confiscated the eight rhino horns, which weighed 7.5 kilos. It is thought that their value on the illegal market would be more than 30 million meticais (about 470,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate).<\/p>\n

At a Maputo press conference on Friday, the Sernic spokesperson, Hilario Lole, described Navarra as \u201cthe mentor or leader\u201d of poaching gangs. \u201cThis individual provided the guns\u201d, said Lole. \u201cHe selected the poachers, and provided the other equipment used in hunting wild animals, in this case rhinoceros\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lole added that Sernic has been working for a long time to \u201cneutralize\u201d the people who organise rhino poaching. Navarra\u2019s gang, he said, had undertaken its criminal activities in Gaza, and along the border with South Africa.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters, the two men denied any involvement in poaching. Navarra said \u201cI was just taking merchandise to Maputo to a man named Pedro. I was sent by my friend Beneth who lives in South Africa\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said he went to the hotel where \u201cPedro\u201d was supposedly staying. \u201cI asked the hotel reception to call him, and at that moment the police arrived\u201d, he claimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was only hired as a middleman\u201d, said Navarra. \u201cI haven\u2019t been a poacher since 2016. My commission for delivering the product would have been 20,000 meticais\u201d.<\/p>\n

Valoi said Zucula was a relative who had asked him for a lift to Maputo and knew nothing about the rhino horns.<\/p>\n

Zucula, however, said it was Navarra who asked him to accompany him to Maputo. \u201cHe rang to say that I was to go with him to Maputo. He didn\u2019t tell me what he was carrying in his plastic bag\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were about to leave (the hotel), the police came in and we were arrested\u201d, said Zucula.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mozambique<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican authorities on Friday detained two men in Marracuene district, about 30 kilometres north of Maputo, in possession of eight rhinoceros horns. One of them is 45 year old Simon Valoi, better known as \u201cBoss Navarra\u201d, who is believed to head the country\u2019s most dangerous poaching ring, in the province of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":23972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,8,16],"tags":[233,281,283],"class_list":["post-23973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mozambique","tag-mozambique"],"yoast_head":"\nRhino poaching kingpin detained - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Mozambican authorities on Friday detained two men in Marracuene district, about 30 kilometres north of Maputo, in po ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rhino poaching kingpin detained\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Mozambican authorities on Friday detained two men in Marracuene district, about 30 kilometres north of Maputo, in po ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-01T14:59:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-01T15:10:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_15.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1050\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"616\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Rhino poaching kingpin detained\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-01T14:59:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-01T15:10:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained\"},\"wordCount\":517,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_15.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mozambique\",\"Mozambique\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/rhino-poaching-kingpin-detained\",\"name\":\"Rhino poaching kingpin detained - 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