Vietnamese Customs officers seize $270k worth of Rhino horns smuggled from Africa

Vietnamese Custom officers have confiscated five kilograms of rhino horns worth nearly $270,000 at Tan Son Nhat international airport in Ho Chi Minh City. According to the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, the rhino horns were found in the luggage belonging to a Vietnamese woman and a man who have been arrested. 

The suspects, identified as Nguyen Thi Thao and Phung Anh Quan, on Friday night flew to Vietnam from Africa, the authorities said on Sunday, adding that the horns were cut into pieces and hidden in different items in their luggage bags.

The horns were said to be from a very rare species of African two-horned rhino, and could be sold at over 6 billion Vietnamese dong (269,000 U.S. dollars) on the black market.