Airport cop arrested in rhino-horn case ELLANIE SMIT A sergeant in the Namibian police has been arrested in connection with a case in which a Chinese national was arrested with 18 rhino horns at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg last week.
Sergeant Pendapala Abraham Iitula,42, who worked at Hosea Kutako International Airport, appeared before the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura yesterday on a charge of defeating and obstructing the course of justice.
Police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi said Iitula was granted bail of N$2 000 and the case was postponed to 3 February next year.
Iitula was the person operating the scanner in the passenger screening area at the airport.
Iitula was arrested on Monday at 18:00, only a few days after a full-scale investigation was launched into activities at Hosea Kutako International Airport.
The probe was ordered after it was discovered that the 18 rhino horns found in the possession of Ye ZhiWe, 28, in Johannesburg had in fact been detected by scanners at Hosea Kutako.
The investigations at Hosea Kutako were launched by Namibian authorities after it was found that even though the scanners detected these illegal rhino horns in the luggage of Ye, who was in transit from Windhoek to Hong Kong, he was still allowed to board a South African Airways flight.
Ye was arrested after the South African Hawks received an anonymous tip-off and discovered the rhino horns hidden in his luggage. The rhino horns were tightly wrapped in industrial cling wrap.
The rhino horns, weighing 43kg, were valued at around N$6.6 million.
Ye made his second court appearance yesterday in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court. Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said the case was postponed to 13 December for a formal bail application. He was remanded in custody.