Four suspended for smuggler’s escape
Four correctional officers have been suspended and are under investigation on suspicion of being involved of the escape of Chinese rhino-horn smuggler, Wang Hui.
Commissioner-General of the Namibian Correctional Service, Raphael Hamunyela, told Namibian Sun the suspended officers’ ranks range from correctional officer one and two to senior correctional officer.
Investigations are still ongoing, “but it smells bad”, he said.
According to him, since Wang (48) escaped from custody on 17 October, there has been no trace of him.
“Police are still searching, but there has been no sign of him up to now.”
Escape
Wang escaped when he went to Brakwater with a warden from the Windhoek Central Prison to pick up material from a supplier.
The material was for a prison workshop for a health ministry project.
Once they arrived, Wang said he needed to use the bathroom, and used the opportunity to escape.
Social media reports indicated that he was allegedly heading to the coast in a sedan, and later it emerged that he was being transported in a bakkie, but these tip-offs have not been confirmed.
On the workshop, Hamunyela said this is part of the prisoners’ rehabilitation process. A board decides - based on several factors - whether a prisoner may start working there, he explained.
These factors include include years served, good behaviour and adaptation.
During these workshops, prisoners first work under very strict supervision, and if they are well-behaved, they may be allowed outside, he said.
Kingpin
Wang - along with Li Zhibing, Pu Xuexin and Li Xiaoling - was found guilty in 2016 of attempting to smuggle 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia.
His three accomplices were caught with rhino horns worth N$2.3 million as well as the leopard skin, worth about N$50 000, in their luggage on 23 March 2014 at the Hosea Kutako International Airport.
Wang, believed to be the kingpin of the operation, was arrested in May that year at the Windhoek Country Club and Resort.
They all received 14-year jail terms.
Commissioner-General of the Namibian Correctional Service, Raphael Hamunyela, told Namibian Sun the suspended officers’ ranks range from correctional officer one and two to senior correctional officer.
Investigations are still ongoing, “but it smells bad”, he said.
According to him, since Wang (48) escaped from custody on 17 October, there has been no trace of him.
“Police are still searching, but there has been no sign of him up to now.”
Escape
Wang escaped when he went to Brakwater with a warden from the Windhoek Central Prison to pick up material from a supplier.
The material was for a prison workshop for a health ministry project.
Once they arrived, Wang said he needed to use the bathroom, and used the opportunity to escape.
Social media reports indicated that he was allegedly heading to the coast in a sedan, and later it emerged that he was being transported in a bakkie, but these tip-offs have not been confirmed.
On the workshop, Hamunyela said this is part of the prisoners’ rehabilitation process. A board decides - based on several factors - whether a prisoner may start working there, he explained.
These factors include include years served, good behaviour and adaptation.
During these workshops, prisoners first work under very strict supervision, and if they are well-behaved, they may be allowed outside, he said.
Kingpin
Wang - along with Li Zhibing, Pu Xuexin and Li Xiaoling - was found guilty in 2016 of attempting to smuggle 14 rhino horns and a leopard skin out of Namibia.
His three accomplices were caught with rhino horns worth N$2.3 million as well as the leopard skin, worth about N$50 000, in their luggage on 23 March 2014 at the Hosea Kutako International Airport.
Wang, believed to be the kingpin of the operation, was arrested in May that year at the Windhoek Country Club and Resort.
They all received 14-year jail terms.
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