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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
A 28-YEAR-OLD Gweru man will spend nine years behind bars after he was arrested by police detectives with a fake rhino horn, which he intended to smuggle into South Africa through Beitbridge Border Post.
Alert detectives intercepted Berlin Chenje Mabika in the border town when he was about to sell the horn to a Zimbabwean man who is based in Musina, South Africa on Tuesday afternoon.
He was convicted on his own plea of guilty when he appeared before Beitbridge magistrate Gloria Takundwa yesterday charged with possession of a trophy of specially protected animals.
The fake horn was forfeited to the state as part of the sentence.
Prosecutor Jabulani Mberesi said sometime this month Mabika illegally bought a fake rhino horn believing it was real and intended to dispose of it in Musina.
He said Mabika then contacted one Stephen Sibanda, a Zimbabwean based in South Africa who had an interest in buying the horn.
The two then agreed to meet in Beitbridge to conclude the transaction.
The court further heard that on July 8, Sibanda went to Beitbridge in the company of three other people where they met Mabika who was in possession of the fake rhino horn.
He said Mabika ran out of luck when detectives from the border control unit pounced in him before he could conclude the transaction with the “buyer”.
The horn was subsequently seized by the police and certified fake by officials from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
Online Reporter