By Lesnat Kenan

Lilongwe, June 12, Mana: Police at Jenda in Mzimba, have arrested three men in connection with illegal possession of a hippo ivory (found in the hippo's canine teeth) which is a protected species under Malawi law.

The three suspects have been identified as Hadson Chunga, Gomezgani Jere, and Malani Tembo.

According to Jenda Police Station Public Relations Officer, Sub Inspector Macfarlen Mseteka, the arrests, followed an intelligence driven investigation after the station received information that some unknown individuals were offering hippo ivory for sale around Jenda Trading Centre.

"Chunga was traveling from Embangweni to Jenda Trading Cssentre to meet a buyer he had connected with, along with two other individuals who were escorting him, before he could complete the sale,” he said.

Mseteka added that the suspects were unable to produce any documentation authorising them to possess and sale the specimen.

All the three suspects, who are from Mzimba district, will appear in court soon after completion of the paperwork to answer charges of illegal possession and offering for sale a spacemen of a protected species, which is contrary to Section 86 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act.

Meanwhile, the specimen has been sent to the Department of Parks and Wildlife for analysis.