A Chinese rhino horn smuggler was sentenced to four years in prison in Kempton Park Regional Court on October 12.
The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, has welcomed the sentence handed down to Shuangshuang Xue (24) in the Kempton Park Regional Court on 12 October 2017. She pleaded guilty on charges related to rhino horn smuggling.
Xue was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport en-route from Lusaka, Zambia to Hong Kong, China. A suitcase, checked in as baggage by the woman, contained 14 pieces of rhinoceros horn with a weight of about 16kg.
It was intercepted by security screening personnel at the luggage transfer area of the international terminal.
She was arrested as there were no permits accompanying the suitcase and its contents. The rhinoceros horn were confiscated and handed in at the Forensic Science Laboratory of the police to determine the origin of the horn or possible links with other investigations.
During genetic profiling it was discovered the 14 pieces of horn were from the White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), from five different animals of which four were males and one female.
None of the pieces of horn could be linked to any poaching incidents or registered stock pile.
The National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) (NEMBA), 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 NEMBA and in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), is required.
The investigation and arrest were the result of collaboration between officials from the police, customs division of the South African Revenue Services, security screening companies and Environmental Management Inspectors (EMIs) of the Department of Environmental Affairs, based at OR Tambo International Airport.
“The collaboration between law enforcement officials at the airport in the investigation and subsequent judicial process needs to be commended. It is only through such continued cooperation and collaboration that the battle against rhino poaching, being undertaken through the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros Approach, will be won,” said Molewa.
