Police nabbed a suspected member of a poaching syndicate on Friday afternoon in Taita Taveta and recovered wildlife trophies worth over Sh5 million.

Bakari Barisa. PHOTO/DCI

A team of detectives drawn from the Serious Crimes Unit and Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau conducted the operation.

The 40-year-old suspect identifies as Bakari Barisa was seized in Taveta Township while he was trading in pangolin scales worth Sh5 million and elephant tasks estimated to be worth Sh400 thousand.

The detectives laid an elaborate scheme to bring Bakari in and posed as unscrupulous dealers from the underworld interested in his merchandise.

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Bakari knew no better and landed right in the middle of the set-up before he was seized with the items.

The suspect was whisked away to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi where he was questioned before being arraigned in court.

Pangolin scales are worth millions in the black market for their supposed qualities recognised chiefly by individuals who use them to perform financial rituals and supposed spiritual protection.

These have put the mammal on the list among the most trafficked ones in the world.

A pandolin. PHOTO/DCI