Vietnam seizes 50 kilos of rhino horn from Kenyan cargo flight

By Phuong Son   December 29, 2016 | 07:16 pm PT
Vietnam seizes 50 kilos of rhino horn from Kenyan cargo flight
A rhino horn of more than seven kilos seized from a suitcase from Kenya at Noi Bai International Airport on Thursday. Photo by VnExpress/Phuong Son
The horns, which have an estimated street value of around $880,000, were packed in a suitcase registered to no one.

Police and customs officials in Hanoi found a suitcase that arrived on a Kenyan cargo plane on Thursday contained 50 kilograms of rhino horn.

The suitcase lacked a registered sender or recipient. 

Customs inspectors discovered nine horns (one weighing over seven kilograms) and ten fragments in the suitcase, which arrived on a flight from Nairobi at 2 p.m.

An officer said they would perform tests on the horns, which have an estimated street value of VND20 billion ($880,000).

The sale and purchase of rhino horn is strictly banned in Vietnam, though the country remains one of the biggest consumers of the critically-endangered creature.

Animal conservationists say rhinoceroses are being poached in South Africa at the rate of one animal every eight hours to meet demand here and in China.

Vietnam developed its appetite for rhino horn ten years ago after a specious rumor began circulating that it cured cancer, a myth conservation groups have bristled at. Vietnam's last Javan rhino, a rare Southeast Asian species, was found dead in 2010 with its horn hacked off.

Public awareness campaigns have helped discourage the trade and prices have fallen far from their peak of $70,000 per kilogram.

Related news:

>Major rhino horn seized at Vietnam airport

>Price of rhino horn plummets in Vietnam

>WWF starts petition to end wildlife trade in Vietnam, decries lack of action

 
 
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