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Man sentenced for illegal possession of a pangolin

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A Northern Cape man was convicted and sentenced for being in the illegal possession of a pangolin by the Upington Magistrate’s Court.

File picture: Reuters

A NORTHERN Cape man, Jerome Ignatius Joseph, 49, was convicted and sentenced for being in the illegal possession of a pangolin by the Upington Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Tebogo Thebe said Joseph was arrested in October 2020 in terms of the illegal possession of an endangered species that was in contravention of the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004.

“The Upington-based Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit received information about a pangolin hidden at a plot in Rietfontein. Members swiftly reacted to the information and found the pangolin hidden in the trunk of a vehicle,” said Thebe.

He added that Joseph pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a fine of R70,000 or five years imprisonment.

“He was furthermore sentenced to three years imprisonment wholly suspended for five years with conditions. He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.”

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