Poachers caught in sting operation

In a sting operation, Police set up a trap on a farm near Bulgerivier to apprehend four rhino poaching suspects. The operation took two days and a 30-yearold man was arrested.
A second suspect, armed with a .458 calibre hunting rifle and two large knives, refused to surrender. Police reports indicated that he was killed after he pointed the rifle at police, forcing them to open fire.
A vehicle used by the suspects was later confiscated at a road block where the police ordered the driver to stop. He refused to stop and tried to speed away when the police fired several shots. The driver then pulled over and was arrested while the vehicle was impounded.
A fourth suspect is still at large and was last seen near Vaalwater where he escaped in to the reeds on a river bank. “The rifle recovered from the scene is not registered in South Africa,” says warrant officer Jurg van Heerden.
Police worked together with a local security company and the Rhino task team of Limpopo.