Serious Crimes Unit detectives have arrested three suspects in Kinango, Kwale County after finding them in possession of a male pangolin.

The detectives who were acting on a tip-off from concerned members of the public nabbed the suspects namely Pas Mwiti, Kabwere Tembe and Salim Nduria.


The detectives, posed as merchants in the illegal trade of the pangolin, which is one of the world’s most endangered species, lured the sellers from their hideout before pouncing on them and rescuing the animal in the process.

All this came after the suspects attempted to evade justice by causing a distraction. They attempted to set the animal free and flee.

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However, the detectives were swift to pursue the suspects and the animal and restrained them before bundling them into a car and driving them to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters in Nairobi.

Upon further interrogation, the suspects revealed the big fish who finance the illicit trade.

The pangolin was later handed over to the Kenya Wildlife Service at the Nairobi Animal Orphanage.


Pangolins fetch handsome amounts on the black market as their scales are used for rituals and that makes the animals targets.

One pangolin goes for about Sh4 million in the Kenyan black market.