THE Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, has welcomed the arrest of an alleged rhino horn smuggler at OR Tambo International Airport on Tuesday
“The arrest of the 24-year-old woman, who was in transit to Hong Kong from Lusaka, Zambia via South Africa, is an indication of the determination of our investigators on the ground to stop the illicit trade in wildlife, particularly the smuggling of poached rhino horn, out of Africa,” she said.
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The Chinese woman was arrested during a joint operation and a bag, containing 11 pieces of rhino horns weighing 23kg, was seized.
Police spokesperson Brig Vishnu Naidoo said whilst acting on intelligence, the team identified and intercepted the specified suitcase at the luggage transfer area of the international terminal within the central terminal building.
“Immediately after the detection of the suitcase, the passenger linked to the suitcase was identified and escorted to the search area. The bag was scanned and searched. It contained pieces of rhino horn,” Naidoo said.
Preliminary investigations reveal that the suitcase arrived from Lusaka, Zambia and was destined for Hong Kong via a SAA flight.
The woman will face charges in terms of the Endangered Species Act.
Molewa said the investigation and arrest at OR Tambo on July 25 was the result of collaboration between officials from the police, customs division of the South African Revenue Services, security screening companies and environmental management inspectors (Green Scorpions) of the Department of Environmental Affairs based at OR Tambo International Airport.
“The horns will be subjected to genetic profiling by the forensic science laboratory of the police to determine its origin or possible links to other investigations,” Molewa added.
“During 2017, there has been a marked increase globally in the number of rhino horn seizures at ports. We have also seen this trend in South Africa with five such detections having taken place at OR Tambo International Airport this year alone. The incident on July 25 brings the number of seizures to six for 2017.”
In May, 7kg of rhino horn and pieces were hidden in tea bags and found at Swissport Cargo/Qatar Airlines.
On May 21, 13.2kg of rhino horn were found in a box booked in as additional baggage. Unfortunately, in this case the passenger had left South Africa and could not be arrested.
On June 11, two Chinese passengers en route to Hong Kong, China with Turkish Airlines were arrested, each with about 12kg of rhino horn in their check-in baggage. On June 14, a Vietnamese passenger was arrested en route to Hong Kong, China with a Cathay Pacific flight when he was found to have five rhino horns in his check-in baggage.
Convicted offenders face these sentences
The National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) (Biodiversity Act), requires that the original documentation from the country of origin must accompany a consignment.
If there is no such original accompanying documentation, an import permit issued in terms of the Biodiversity Act and in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), is required.
Upon conviction in terms of the Biodiversity Act, a person is liable to:
(a) a fine not exceeding R10 million, or a fine equal to three times the commercial value of the rhino horn in respect of which the offence was committed, whichever is the greater; or
(b) an imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or
(c) both such a fine and such imprisonment.
