THE Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court has pushed forward until next Monday a case facing 11 Tanzanians over possession and transportation of government trophies without permission from the Director of Wildlife.
This followed a request from State Attorney Tumaini Maingu following absence of some attorneys.
State attorney Maingu stated in the court, on Tuesday, that the case has come for hearings, so he asked the court to set another date for the hearings to begin.
Mr Maingu made the plea before the Principal Resident Magistrate, Rhoda Ngimilanga.
Following his plea, Magistrate Ngimilanga adjourned the case until January 9, this year and the accused will continue to remain in custody.
The accused in the case are businessman Victor Mawala, Haruni Abdallah, Abbas Hassan, Solomoni Mtenya, Khalfani Kahengele, Ismail Kassa, Juma Buguma, Kassim Saidi, Peter Nyachiwa, John Buhanza and Mussa Abdallah, all are residents of Dar es Salaam.
In the case, it is alleged that the defendants are facing charges of being involved in possession and transportation of government trophies, including 660 pieces of elephant tusks worth more than 4.6bn/-, without permission from the Director of Wildlife.
The defendants are accused of operating a vast network of poaching, including buying, selling, receiving and transportation of elephant tusks, which are government trophies.
Meanwhile, according to the prosecution, investigation into the trafficking of 1001.17 kilograms of heroin by Mikocheni resident Hussein Hariri and his two associates is now complete.
State Attorney Caroline Matemu revealed this on Tuesday at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court before Principal Resident Magistrate Mery Mrio.
Matemu claimed in the court that the case has come up for mention, the investigation has been completed and they were waiting to present the information to the high court.
She then requested that a new date be set so that the defendants could review the specifics of the evidence.
Magistrate Mrio adjourned the case until January 16, this year, and the defendants will continue to remain in custody.
The other accused in the case are Benson Muro (32), a resident of Mbezi and Ramadhani Almas (46), a resident of Magomeni Mapipa.
It was alleged by the prosecution that the defendants committed the offense on March 17 this year at Mbezi Chini area.
