VZCZCXRO0622
RR RUEHAST RUEHBZ RUEHDH RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHLN RUEHMA
RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHRN RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHYD #0449 1420636
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220636Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9906
INFO RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0322
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC

UNCLAS YAOUNDE 000449 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV KCOR PREL PGOV CM
SUBJECT: ITALIAN LOGGER BUSTED FOR CHIMP POSSESSION 
 
Ref 07 Yaounde 539 
 
¶1.  (U)  Summary.  Cameroonian law enforcement officials arrested 
Italian national and logging executive Mirko Ramoni on May 14 for 
possession of controlled wildlife and wildlife products, including 
three live chimps and the skin of a freshwater crocodile.  The Last 
Great Ape (LAGA), a wildlife law enforcement NGO that has received 
support from the USG in the past, conducted surveillance on the 
suspect and accompanied the Cameroonian officials at every step of 
the operation.  If convicted, Ramoni faces up to three years in 
prison and up to 10,000,000 CFA (about $20,000 in fines).  This is 
not the first case implicating a foreign national working in 
Cameroon's forestry sector, and past experience suggests police and 
judicial authorities will face political pressure and overtures of 
corruption to release the suspect or grant him lenient treatment. 
End summary. 
 
An NGO with Teeth 
----------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  In February, LAGA received a tip that Ramoni, the General 
Manager of SMK, an Italian logging company operating in Cameroon's 
Center Region, was purchasing and possessed protected animals, 
including chimpanzees and antelope.  LAGA officials, in coordination 
with MINFOF, conducted surveillance for three months before 
obtaining sufficient information to compel MINFOF National Brigade 
officials to seek a search warrant for Ramoni's residence on SMK 
premises.  On May 14, officers from the MINFOF National Brigade, 
accompanied by LAGA officials, searched SMK premises and confiscated 
three adolescent chimpanzees and one skin of a fresh water 
crocodile, all of which are protected under Cameroonian wildlife 
law. 
 
Nexus Between Logging and 
Illegal Wildlife Trade 
------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  LAGA Director Ofir Drori told Poloff on May 14 that 
Romani's arrest is only the most recent in a string of incidents 
pointing to the implication of logging company officials and the 
trade in protected wildlife and wildlife products.  In early 2008, 
the MINFOF National Brigade, again working with LAGA, arrested 
Christos Paschalivis, a Greek national and General Manager of a 
Greek logging company, for possession of two chimpanzees and an 
unregistered hunting rifle.  The prosecutor reported that he had 
granted Paschalivis bail, but LAGA's investigators later discovered 
that Paschalivis paid a 2 million CFA (about $4,000) bribe to the 
prosecutor in order to avoid detention.  Paschalivis was later 
convicted of lesser offenses and sentenced to pay a negligible fine. 
 LAGA is helping MINFOF formulate an appeal of the judge's 
decision. 
 
The Challenge of Justice 
------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (U)  Ramoni is being accompanied by MINFOF National Brigade and 
LAGA representatives to the Court of First Instance in Ntui.  On May 
15, the prosecutor denied Ramoni's request for bail and ordered him 
detained over the weekend, pending a formal presentation of charges. 
 That Ramoni is Italian and that he is implicated in the lucrative 
and well-connected logging industry, however, leaves Drori concerned 
that political pressure will brought to bear to free Ramoni.  In 
addition, LAGA's experience has shown that defendants seek to bribe 
police or judicial officials in approximately 85 percent of the 
cases where LAGA is involved. 
 
Comment: LAGA, 
An NGO with a Mission 
--------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U)  We have praised LAGA and their model before (reftel), and 
this arrest is only the most recent in a long string of successes. 
Drori started LAGA when he learned that Cameroon had never 
prosecuted a case of wildlife trafficking, despite credible and 
widespread flaunting of domestic and international law.  By 
operating on a shoe-string budget (LAGA still does not possess a 
vehicle or proper office space), Drori hopes to demonstrate that 
weak political will and pervasive corruption, not lack of resources, 
are to blame for unchecked wildlife trafficking and other law 
enforcement challenges in Cameroon.  To some extent, the Romani case 
illustrates this point; it required no donor support or increased 
financing, just that Cameroonian officials--from the National 
Brigade to the judiciary--carry out their responsibilities.  End 
comment.