Notorious Rhino Poacher from Mozambique Received Sentence of 30 Years in Prison

Admiro Chaque, an ill-famed poacher and gang member from Mozambique, who was last caught for illegal rhino poaching on May 3, 2021, was given his sentence just recently. This was announced on a Facebook post by The National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC).

Judge Dr. Jafete Sigoto Fremo in the 6^th section of the Judicial Court of Maputo Province sentenced Chaque to 30 years in prison and ordered him to pay 28 years' worth of fine at the rate of 1% of the minimum wage.

Chaque, a resident of Mapulanguene, Magude district made his last attempt of illegal poaching on May last year, after being acquitted on January 18, 2020 for similar case of "illegal activity hunting for a forbidden species".

As per ANAC; Chauque was "an executor of poaching and organizer of criminals" who would "kill rhinos for illicit enrichment by feeding rhino horn trafficking to Asian countries especially Vietnam and China."

"Nothing but a court circus"

(Photo : Photo credit: MUJAHID SAFODIEN/AFP via Getty Images)
A poached de-horned rhinoceros, left to die by poachers, walks with bandage and stitches after being treated by South African veterinarians on a ranch in Bela Bela some 150 KM north of Johannesburg on May 20, 2016 in Bela Bela district .

Saving the Wild explains that the minimum sentence for rhino horn, ivory, and pangolin poachers in Mozambique is 16 years in prison. This was implemented in 2017 for poachers of "all protected species".

"We have just been notified of a record 30-year sentence for a monster of a man," said Jamie Joseph of Saving the Wild in the post. "He was arrested on May 3, 2021, meaning from arrest to conviction it was less than nine months. Amazing. Now, may Chauque spend the rest of his life rotting in jail."

According to the organization, there is currently a nine-year minimum for poachers in Zimbabwe. Unfortunately, there is no minimum sentence for poachers in South Africa, despite the government claiming that "rhino poaching is a national priority crime."

"I have lost track of how many times a poacher is given a petty fine and no jail time in South Africa, only to go out and kill more rhinos," concluded Joseph. "Or, they get slapped with a double-digit sentence, only to be out the next year poaching again. In South Africa, it's nothing but a court circus."

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South African government's "fake war on rhino poaching"

On the other hand, Joseph also explained the role corruption had played on how 'Kruger lost 70% of its rhinos' in an article published on savingthewild.com. He notes that "it has very little to do with poaching, and mostly to do with #corruption."

In fact, Chaque was one of several poachers involved of hunting crimes, association to offend, and carrying illegal weapons in Kruger National Park in South Africa.

According to Joseph, the African National Congress (ANC) and its government "did nothing to stop the decline of state institutions" and "benefitted from proceeds of crime and highlighted the State's almost complete failure to prosecute corruption cases."

As a response, President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa proclaimed that: "This is a defining moment in our country's effort to definitively end the era of state capture and to restore the integrity, credibility and capability of our institutions, but more importantly, our government."

"Well Mr President, this year some of us working on the rhino crisis will be putting that to the test," Joseph answered.

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