Two Vienamese caught for rhino horn smuggling

31 January 2011 - 11:58
By Sapa

Two Vietnamese arrested at the Wonderboom Airport

Two Vietnamese hunters with permits to hunt rhino near Musina have been caught allegedly trying to smuggle four rhino horns out of Limpopo, police said on Monday.

"On January 29 Limpopo [police] received information of a legal hunt taking place on a certain farm in the Musina area. Crime Intelligence officials visited the farm and verified that valid permits for legal hunting were in the possession of the farmer," Brigadier Sally De Beer said in a statement.

The farmer later took the two Vietnamese hunters, in their late twenties and early thirties, to Wonderboom airport. When they were searched at the terminal, the hunters were found to be in possession of four horns from two rhinos.

"Although the actual hunting was legal and the farmer was in possession of valid permits, the removal and transportation of the horns by the two suspects constituted an illegal act. The hunted rhinos and horns have to remain in the possession of the farmer/professional hunter who must have the shoulders, head and horns mounted by a taxidermist and a chip inserted into the horn prior to transportation," said De Beer.

The hunters were expected to appear before the Pretoria North Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of illegal possession of rhino horns. The farmer would face questioning by the Hawks in a follow-up investigation.