Congo army Major arrested for illegal wildlife trade

18/08/2008 23:17:43 August 2008. ICCN rangers received a tip-off that someone in Goma was trying to sell a baby gorilla. The rangers set up a sting operation, where one of them posed as a foreigner interested in buying the gorilla. They had a team of ICCN Rangers on standby to make arrests.

The ‘foreigner' was introduced to sellers and they told him that they were acting as middle men for the owner of a baby mountain gorilla that was being kept in Goma.

After several hours of negotiating and discussions, the men handed over a mobile phone, and on the other end of the line was the owner. When the ‘foreigner' finally arrived at the owner's house, he immediately realized that it belonged to someone in the military. There was an army truck and a jeep there, and a soldier with an AK-47 was standing guard.

He was led to a small room in the house, where a man opened a basket revealing a baby chimpanzee. Clearly the men did not know the difference between a gorilla and a chimpanzee. The chimp had been in that basket for three months and came from Tongo in Virunga National Park.

After taking pictures of the chimp, the ‘foreigner' told the men that he would have to go back to my house to get the money. As we left, the team of Rangers roared up in a vehicle and raided the house. The three middle men and the soldier were arrested, and the chimp was confiscated.

The chimp was taken back to the office of the ICCN and checked by vets give. It is a male, about 9 months old, and in pretty good condition apart from some parasites. The rangers are now taking care of him while we try to find him a good home in a sanctuary.

Arrested man a major in Congolese army
Following the arrests, it has emerged that the man who owned the house is a Major in the Congolese army. It was not a surprise that Major "X" (can't be named for legal reasons) was involved in the trade of baby chimps. He has been implicated in poaching incidents in Rwindi and more importantly there is strong evidence that he is a ringleader in the illegal charcoal trade.

Everyone hopes that the judicial proceedings following the rescue of Tongo will finally bring Major X to justice. This would represent a massive breakthrough in our efforts to protect the gorilla sector.

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