A combined team of Kenya Defense Force, National Intelligence Service and the police were involved in the arrest of Mohammed Bulle, alias Gosi Garsen.
Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) said Bulle was on radar over series of poaching in Tsavo, Taita, Maasai Mara national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country.
Detectives were on Wednesday also investigating if Bulle has links with terrorism activities including plotting and funding the activities.
KWS lead investigator for Coast region Gideon Kebati told Xinhua that the suspect was captured in a guest house and handed over to team of detectives awaiting to be transferred to Nairobi for further interrogation.
A Kenya court had issued warrant against Bulle after he jumped bail in a 2013 poaching case. The recovered rifle has been handed to ballistic experts in Nairobi to establish if it was used in past poaching cases.
“Two mobile phones were also seized from him and are being analyzed. We believe he is the mastermind of poaching in the country. He has been on the run for long but finally we caught him. ” said Kebati.
Police were also investigating whether the suspect was involved in the seized tons of ivory in Thailand and Singapore that were sneaked through the port of Mombasa undetected.
Last week, interior Cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery said intelligence by the police shows that proceeds from poaching are being used to finance terrorism.
Nkaiserry linked the latest consignment seized in Singapore and Thailand to the outlawed Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), adding that it was meant to finance and facilitate their criminal activities.
MRC, which is an increasingly violent Islamist group, is charging that the coastal people’s rights to land and property ownership has been violated and has carried out several attacks.
The group has, however, denied the allegation.