Asian nationals arrested for trading in rhino horn
Two Tiawanese and one Chinese national were arrested in Johannesburg for the illicit trading in rhino horns.
This came after warrants were issued by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and an intergrated team of experts were deployed to execute a search.
Two rhino horns of unconfirmed value and two vehicles valued at R700 000 were siezed during the operation.
This came after a rhino horn transaction was succesfully concluded with the syndicate members in Johannesburg. Cash was also recovered from the premises at the amount of R70 500.
It is believed that the suspects arrested are the masterminds behind the syndicate. This came after a year long investigation by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Middelburg, who successfully infiltrated a notorious Chinese syndicate trafficking rhino horns within South Africa, to the South East Asian countries.
All suspects will be detained and are expected to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 16 August.
