Singapore has seized over $800,000 worth of illegal rhino horn and animal parts hidden in air cargo bound for Laos, authorities said Tuesday, in the largest haul of its kind discovered in the city-state.
Disguised as “furniture fittings”, the stash was found 10 days ago after a cargo handler “detected a strong odour” coming from a package, Singapore’s National Parks Board and air cargo handler SATS said in a joint statement.
Singapore law officials were alerted, and uncovered “20 pieces of rhinoceros horns weighing 35.7 kilogrammes (78.7 pounds), along with around 150 kg of other animal parts”, the statement said.
The haul’s total value is estimated at around $870,000.
“This marks the largest seizure of rhinoceros horns in Singapore to date,” the statement added.
The 20 horns were identified as belonging to white South African rhinoceroses. Authorities are looking into the provenance of the other animal parts.
Rhinos are protected under wildlife protection convention CITES, and international trade in their horns is prohibited.
The horns will now be destroyed according to CITES guidelines, the Singapore authorities said.
Rhino horns are considered status symbols and believed to have medicinal properties in parts of Asia. They are also carved into jewellery and household items, including combs, buttons and belt buckles.
The largest previous seizure of rhino horns in Singapore was in October 2022, when 34.7 kg of the forbidden commodity were found in a South African man’s bags at Changi Airport.
The smuggler was sentenced to two years in jail in January last year.
The Switzerland-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in 2022 that poaching and the illegal trade in horns have decreased in recent years but remain grave threats to rhinos.
It said more than 2,700 rhinos were poached in Africa between 2018 and 2021, of which 90 percent were killed in South Africa, mainly in the Kruger National Park.
Home to nearly 80 percent of the world’s rhinoceroses, South Africa is a poaching hotspot, driven by demand from Asia.
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