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The 125kg haul of rhino horn discovered at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport was found after the carefully disguised shipment aroused suspicion
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Rhino horn can fetch up to US$60,000 per kilo in Vietnam, where some people believe it can help cure diseases and hangovers when ground into powder
Vietnam said it has seized more than 125kg of rhino horns hidden in plaster blocks and shipped from United Arab Emirates, the latest large-scale wildlife trafficking case in Southeast Asia. AFP reports.
The rhino horns were discovered earlier this week at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport in carefully disguised cargo that arrived on an Etihad Airways flight, the customs department said in a statement.
Images of the bust show large rhino horns and smaller pieces sitting on a table and police using rods to break the casts apart. “It took half a day to break them open,” a security source said.
The parts were found the same day police arrested a key wildlife trafficking suspect and two other men after seven frozen tiger carcasses were discovered in their vehicle in a car park, as the state tries to crack down on sophisticated wildlife smuggling routes.
According to AFP, the communist state is both a consumption hub and popular transit point for the multibillion dollar trade in animal parts.
The busts follow a record seizure in Singapore a week ago of nearly nine tonnes of ivory and a huge stash of pangolin scales destined for Vietnam.