Conviction at an Ancient Playground for Kingpins Could Save Africa


“For Malawi, this shows that it is not a sacred cow,” said Mr. Kaonga. “Money can’t save you, and there is a limit to what corruption can really bring you.”

The Chinese embassy in Malawi did not respond to questions about the case.

Eighteen other members of Mr. Lin’s network – including four of his close relatives – were prosecuted for crimes such as possession of ivory, pangolin scales, rhino horns, illegal firearms and explosives. Additionally, Mr. Lin’s daughter and another alleged partner were charged with money laundering.

Most of Mr. Lin’s affiliates were Chinese, but he also worked closely with a few Malawis. One man, Aaron Dyson, a fluent Mandarin speaker, is now sentenced to 15 years in prison for possessing and selling ivory.

“You’re looking at a Chinese-led network that is being dismantled,” said Ms. Douglas-Hamilton. “A big win for wildlife.”

Malawi’s police began investigating Mr. Lin’s network in early 2015. In December 2017, they caught and arrested his wife and son-in-law while purchasing ivory from a Zambian national. However, Mr. Lin continued to avoid detection, and the case against his family members went cold.

There was a big break in May 2019 when the police stopped Mr. Lin’s driver and found three live pangolins in the trunk of his car. When questioning the driver, “Mr. Lin keeps calling, ‘Where are you?’ was leaving voice notes asking,” said Mr. Kaonga. “He wanted to eat the pangolin meat, and that’s what got him in trouble.”

This gave the police grounds to conduct simultaneous raids on several commercial and residential properties in Lilongwe. Sniffer dogs took them to ivory, pangolin scales, pieces of rhino horn, and illegal firearms. They made a number of arrests, including the re-arrest of Mr. Lin’s wife and son-in-law. But Mr. Lin was nowhere to be found.



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