Arrested
in
Harare
on
July
16,
2025,
the
47-year-old
was
found
in
possession
of
three
rhino
horns
and
four
pieces
of
raw
ivory
with
a
combined
street
value
exceeding
US$246
000.
While
Cong’s
case
stood
out
because
of
the
quantities
of
ivory
involved,
conservationists
said
such
matters
are
becoming
a
permanent
feature
in
courts
around
Zimbabwe.
In
February
2025,
two
Chinese
nationals,
Lin
Wang
and
Fux
Wang,
appeared
at
the
Harare
magistrates
court
after
they
were
caught
at
the
Robert
Gabriel
Mugabe
International
Airport
in
Harare
trying
to
smuggle
out
of
the
country
rhino
horns
worth
a
combined
US$480
000.
In
a
separate
case,
Lin
and
Fux
were
caught
by
undercover
detectives
while
trying
to
make
arrangements
to
smuggle
rhino
horns
worth
US$120
000
with
an
agent
in
Harare’s
Alexandra
Park.
Li
Song,
a
Chinese
national
allegedly
at
the
centre
of
a
poaching
network
in
Zimbabwe
for
many
years
during
the
Robert
Mugabe
years,
went
under
the
radar
in
2024
after
she
was
arrested
for
allegedly
importing
large
quantities
of
cyanide
and
storing
it
in
unsafe
locations.
Cyanide
was
once
a
weapon
of
choice
for
poachers
who
killed
hundreds
of
elephants
at
the
Hwange
National
Park
for
their
ivory.
Li
is
rumoured
to
have
escaped
to
her
country
after
a
Harare
magistrate
issued
a
warrant
of
arrest
against
her
two
years
ago
for
skipping
trial.
While
the
National
Prosecuting
Authority
of
Zimbabwe
(NPAZ)
usually
hails
the
arrests
of
the
Chinese
nationals
as
a
signal
that
the
fight
against
wildlife
crimes
is
intensifying,
conservationists
said
the
cases
were
only
a
tip
of
the
iceberg.
East
Asian
syndicates
and
hidden
financial
flows
Conservationists
revealed
the
increasing
number
of
Chinese
nationals
being
arrested
during
ivory
seizures
was
proof
that
syndicates
from
East
Asia
have
become
the
main
challenge
in
the
fight
against
illegal
wildlife
trade
in
Zimbabwe,
leading
to
illicit
financial
flows.
Lack
of
detailed
investigations
after
the
seizures
has
prevented
the
syndicates
from
being
unmasked.
They
remain
untouched,
the
conservationists
said.
The
foreign
syndicates
allegedly
connive
with
corrupt
officials
to
smuggle
ivory
from
elephants
mainly
poached
from
Matabeleland
North’s
major
wildlife
reserves
that
include
the
Hwange
National
Park.
At
least
30
000
elephants
are
killed
across
Africa
every
year
for
their
tusks,
which
frequently
end
up
in
Chinese
and
Vietnamese
markets.
Zimbabwe
has
the
second-largest
elephant
population
in
the
world
after
Botswana
and
holds
an
estimated
120
metric
tonnes
of
stockpiled
ivory,
accumulated
under
a
global
trade
ban
intended
to
protect
endangered
species.
Zimbabwe,
alongside
Botswana
and
Namibia,
has
lobbied
for
the
lifting
of
the
ban,
arguing
that
controlled
sales
would
undercut
black
markets
and
generate
funds
for
conservation.
For
years,
Zimbabwe’s
elephant
population
has
been
under
siege
from
ivory
poachers
amid
the
growing
influence
of
the
Chinese
population
in
the
country.
China
has
become
the
world’s
largest
ivory
market
and
organised
criminal
syndicates
from
that
country
have
been
identified
as
the
key
drivers
of
ivory
trafficking
from
Zimbabwe.
Investigations
that
involved
tracking
criminal
prosecutions
in
Matabeleland
North,
interviews
with
conservationists
and
reviewing
reports
on
wildlife
crimes,
showed
Chinese
syndicates
were
behind
illicit
financial
flows
from
illegal
ivory
trade.
According
to
the
Wildlife
Justice
Commission
(2020),
a
kilogramme
of
raw
ivory
fetches
between
US$75
and
US$85
on
southern
African
black
markets,
compared
to
as
much
as
US$400
in
China
and
Vietnam.
The
Organised
Crime
Index
2023
described
“wildlife
trafficking
as
prevalent
in
Zimbabwe,
particularly
for
ivory
and
rhino
horns.”
“Chinese
transnational
organised
criminal
groups
are
involved
in
this
crime
in
the
country,”
the
report
said.
In
2025
the
same
report
said
“fauna
crimes
are
highly
consolidated,
with
well-organised
poaching
networks
engaged
in
the
illegal
trade
of
ivory
and
rhino
horns.”
“Corruption
among
state-embedded
actors
enables
traffickers
to
operate
with
little
resistance,”
the
report
added.
“The
demand
for
wildlife
products
primarily
originates
from
Asia,
Chinese
nationals
reportedly
playing
a
significant
role
in
the
market.”
These
smuggling
routes
often
overlap
with
gold,
arms
and
drug
trafficking
pipelines,
complicating
surveillance
and
enforcement.
Investigators
found
that
routes
through
Matabeleland
North,
Hwange,
Binga
and
Lupane
link
to
trucking
corridors
feeding
into
South
Africa,
where
illicit
shipments
are
then
sent
to
East
Asian
markets.
Layers
of
a
poaching
syndicate
Amos
Gwema,
a
wildlife
law
enforcement
specialist
with
over
two
decades
of
experience,
said
the
foreign
poaching
syndicates
had
a
hierarchy
that
started
with
villagers
at
the
base,
followed
by
local
syndicate
leaders,
city-based
consolidators,
and
regional
facilitators
and
led
by
international
masterminds.
Gwema,
also
author
of
the
book,
Safeguarding
Wildlife
–
A
Manual
for
Investigation,
Enforcement
and
Conservation,
said
poor
villagers
form
the
base
of
the
triangle,
often
bearing
the
brunt
of
law
enforcement
efforts.
“They
are
identified,
arrested,
and
charged
with
possession
or
dealing
in
wildlife
products,
making
it
difficult
to
connect
them
to
higher-level
operatives,”
he
said.
“In
some
cases,
they
are
shot
while
poaching,
and
law
enforcement
celebrates
these
incidents.
Rarely
do
efforts
go
beyond
this
level
to
investigate
further,
largely
due
to
the
legal
challenges
in
linking
them
to
the
broader
syndicate.”
A
layer
above
the
poachers
are
local
syndicate
leaders
who
are
the
middlemen,
collecting
ivory
and
wildlife
products
from
the
villagers.
Gwema
said
these
individuals
were
trusted
by
buyers
and
received
funds
to
purchase
ivory,
often
at
significantly
lower
prices
of
between
US$20
to
US$40
per
kilogramme
compared
to
US$100
per
kg.
“They
don’t
engage
in
poaching
directly,
instead
waiting
for
Level
1
operatives
to
bring
products
to
them,
often
outside
the
park
or
poaching
area,”
he
said.
City-based
consolidators
are
the
next
layer
operating
from
urban
areas,
receiving
and
consolidating
products
from
Level
2
collectors.
They
are
typically
foreigners
residing
in
the
country,
or
locals
who
have
earned
the
trust
of
local
syndicate
leaders.
They
facilitate
the
transportation
of
ivory
and
other
products
out
of
the
country,
dealing
only
with
trusted
local
syndicate
leaders.
Gwema
said
the
city-based
consolidators
were
followed
by
individuals
that
oversee
regional
operations,
leveraging
connections
to
facilitate
transportation
and
logistics
for
the
illicit
trade.
“They
operate
from
regional
hubs,
which
can
be
countries
where
animals
are
poached,
such
as
Zimbabwe,
Zambia,
or
South
Africa,”
he
added.
“They
are
challenging
for
law
enforcement
to
reach,
making
them
a
crucial
part
of
the
syndicate’s
structure.
At
the
apex
of
the
syndicate,
these
individuals
orchestrate
the
entire
operation
and
reap
the
greatest
benefits.
They
are
based
in
consumer
markets
and
are
the
hardest
to
apprehend,
making
them
the
elusive
drivers
of
the
illicit
wildlife
trade.”
Financial
intelligence
flags
wildlife
crime
A
common
feature
of
Zimbabwe’s
Financial
Intelligence
Unit
(FIU)
in
the
past
few
years
is
the
increasing
incidence
of
illicit
financial
flows
linked
to
environment
crimes
such
as
the
smuggling
of
ivory.
“Environmental-crime-related
financial
activity
is
rising
sharply,”
noted
the
FIU’s
2024
report.
“The
jump
from
212
Suspicious
Transaction
Reports
(STRs)
in
2022
to
an
average
of
55
per
month
in
early
2023
signals
that
criminal
networks
are
increasingly
using
formal
financial
channels.”
The
FIU
said
suspicious
transaction
reports
associated
with
illegal
wildlife
trade
dominated
environmental
crime
categories,
followed
by
illegal
gold
mining
and
timber
smuggling.
Matabeleland
North,
Mashonaland
West
and
Masvingo
were
identified
as
the
hotspots
for
ivory
poaching.
Poaching
hotspots
are
areas
with
elephant
populations,
such
as
Hwange,
Sebungwe,
Northern
regions
and
Gonarezhou.
Smugglers
move
ivory
through
porous
borders,
like
the
Zambezi
River,
or
unmanned
land
border
lines,
conservationists
who
spoke
on
condition
of
anonymity
said.
The
FIU
said
it
now
possessed
the
capacity
to
“trace
cross-border
wire
transfers,
identify
shell-company
structures,
and
coordinate
arrests
with
law-enforcement
partners
(Interpol,
ZimParks,
NPA).”
Civil
society
raises
alarm
Farai
Maguwu,
Director
of
the
Centre
for
Natural
Resource
Governance,
said
Chinese
nationals
dominated
the
number
of
foreigners
caught
trying
to
smuggle
ivory
out
of
Zimbabwe,
pointing
to
entrenched
criminal
syndicates
operating
in
the
country.
“If
you
do
a
simple
Google
search,
you
will
find
that
Chinese
nationals
have
been
arrested
from
time
to
time
in
Zimbabwe
with
ivory
and
rhino
horn,”
Maguwu
said.
“There’s
also
international
research
that
was
done
which
implicated
some
powerful
Zimbabweans
as
well
in
poaching.
‘So
the
Chinese
normally
work
with
locals
when
they
do
these
things,
but
this
is
something
that
we
must
really
be
concerned
about
because
it’s
part
of
transnational
organised
crime.
“The
shipment
of
ivory
from
Zimbabwe
to
whatever
destination
shows
that
there
is
a
well-coordinated
criminal
syndicate
involved
in
poaching
in
this
country.”
Muguwu,
whose
organisation
does
research
and
advocacy
aimed
at
promoting
citizen
participation,
said
their
grassroots
monitors
in
ivory
poaching
hotpots
such
as
Hwange
often
recorded
suspicious
activities
by
Chinese
nationals.
“As
you
know
a
few
years
ago
Chinese
nationals
were
caught
with
ivory
in
Zimbabwe
and
were
granted
bail,”
he
said.
“Predictably,
they
fled
the
country
while
on
bail.
In
a
normal
situation,
when
you
are
arrested
in
a
foreign
land
for
such
a
serious
crime.
“So
the
question
is:
how
many
such
cases
go
unnoticed?
Are
those
arrested
only
the
tip
of
the
iceberg?”
Nkosikhona
Sibanda,
Director
at
the
Centre
for
Environment
and
Corporate
Accountability,
said
there
were
allegations
that
some
Chinese
nationals
employed
around
Hwange
were
involved
in
poaching
activities.
A
number
of
Chinese
coal
mines
have
been
established
in
Hwange
since
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa
came
into
power
in
2017.
In
2020
the
government
was
forced
to
ban
all
mining
in
national
parks
after
furore
greeted
the
granting
of
coal
mining
exploration
to
Chinese-owned
Afrochine
Energy
and
Zhongxin
Coal
Mining.
Conservationists,
who
opposed
the
attempts
to
open
the
mines
inside
Zimbabwe’s
biggest
game
reserve
said
the
granting
of
the
licenses
would
result
in
irreparable
harm
to
the
fragile
ecosystem.
“Based
on
our
interactions
with
workers
employed
by
Chinese
mining
companies,
we
have
gathered
that
there
are
activities
taking
place
in
and
around
Hwange
that
appear
to
be
illegal,
and
we
are
still
trying
to
establish
the
full
facts,”
Sibanda
said.
“Many
of
these
activities
seem
to
be
linked
to
poaching
and
the
trafficking
of
ivory
out
of
Zimbabwe,
particularly
from
areas
around
Hwange
National
Park.
“There
has
been
an
influx
of
Chinese
nationals
into
Hwange,
most
of
whom
are
presented
as
mine
workers
employed
by
Chinese-owned
mining
operations
in
the
area.
“
He
said
most
of
the
Chinese
nationals
had
access
to
guns
that
their
employers
claim
are
for
security
reasons,
but
some
of
them
end
up
being
used
for
poaching.
“We
have
seen
ordinary
citizens
sentenced
to
seven,
eight,
10
or
even
15
years
in
prison
for
being
found
in
possession
of
wildlife
products
without
licences,”
Sibanda
said.
“However,
we
have
not
seen
major
convictions
involving
Chinese
nationals,
despite
a
number
of
arrests
that
have
been
publicly
reported
by
the
Zimbabwe
Republic
Police.
“This
raises
questions
about
whether
wildlife
crimes
are
being
treated
differently
based
on
a
person’s
nationality
or
skin
colour.”
Silence
from
authorities
Zimparks
spokesperson,
Tamiriraishe
Mudzingwa,
requested
questions
in
writing
when
he
was
asked
to
comment
on
the
involvement
of
Chinese
nationals
in
poaching
activities,
but
did
not
respond
for
over
a
month.
Zimbabwe
lost
300
elephants
at
the
Hwange
National
Park
in
2013
where
poachers
used
cyanide
poisoning
in
an
incident
that
drew
global
attention
to
the
poaching
problem.