Reuters
YAOUNDE (Reuters) - Authorities in Cameroon have arrested five people suspected
of trafficking in body parts after they were discovered at a checkpoint
carrying a severed human head, state radio and wildlife conservationists said
on Tuesday.
Body parts of humans and rare animals are prized by some in central Africa for
their supposed supernatural powers, and used in occult ceremonies.
Traffickers often get human remains from grave-robbers, but a recent spate of
killings has also been linked to the gruesome trade.
Cameroon's state-owned broadcaster CRTV said the suspects had been transporting
the body parts in a bag along with elephant meat from Djoum, a small town about
280 km (170 miles)south of the capital Yaounde, when they were stopped at a
checkpoint.
Eric Kaba Tah, a spokesman for Last Great Ape Organisation, a conservation
group that assists Cameroon's forestry and wildlife ministry, told Reuters it
made the discovery while searching for animal poachers.
"We opened the bag and discovered that among the human remains there was a
skull with hair still looking very fresh," Tah said.
Upon questioning the men said the body parts were to be handed over to a buyer
in Yaounde who had promised to pay them 10 million CFA francs, Tah said.
The suspects, who included three university students, were arrested and taken
to the capital for further investigation.
Earlier this year, gendarmes in Cameroon arrested a man in Batie, about 315 km
west of Yaounde, who was also caught with a severed bloody head.
Interviewed on television, the suspect said he had been promised 5 million CFA
francs by a businessman if he delivered fresh human organs.