According to CapeNature’s Biodiversity Crime Unit (BCU) the 200kg of illegal ivory being held in Stellenbosch is just the tip of the iceberg.

Using methods similar to the drug mule system which moves huge amounts of drugs around the world, the biocriminal syndicates have targeted the indigenous fauna and flora of the Western Cape as it is a small region with very high biodiversity.

The BCU programme manager, Paul Gildenhuys, said that “The last syndicate group was made up of three Slovakians and one Czech who were caught smuggling close to 100 Angulate tortoises.”

Illegal trading has grown with the rise of internet trading with collectors placing requests for exotic plants and animals on internet forums.  Syndicates then contact potential buyers and arrange transactions.  The Cape Times has been able to locate at least two websites where trading takes place.

Everything that flies, walks, swims and crawls has a price on its head. “They’re like vacuum cleaners – basically anything of interest they will collect,” said Gildenhuys.

The South African postal service has also been used by smugglers where over the past year BCU has intercepted hunting trophies, wild animal skins, wild animal teeth, live invertebrates as well as specimens of fauna and flora at various post offices around the province of the Western Cape.

It has been estimated that the illegal environmental smuggling trade is now worth $20 billion a year placing it second only to the international narcotics industry.