3 Chinese arrested boarding a plane with 14 rhino horns

Posted by: Kevin Heath / 3 hours ago

Namibia has announced that 3 Chinese nationals were arrested on 23rd March as they boarded an aircraft with 14 rhino horns and leopard skins hidden in their luggage. They were arrested as they tried to board a flight to Hong Kong from Namibia.

The three men were arrested at 07.40 am on Sunday 23rd March. Customs officials discovered the rhino horns during a routine scan of luggage. They had been wrapped in foil and plastic before being hidden in clothes. They were about to board a flight to Johannesburg with a connection onto Hong Kong as their final destination.

Deputy commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi from the Namibian police revealed details about the Chinese following investigations.

The Chinese had flown from China on March 9th and arrived in Zambia. They then arrived in Namibia on 12th March on a tourist visa at the Wenela border post.

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Hong Kong returns 33 rhino horns to South Africa

33 rhino horns with about £1.5 million have been returned to South Africa together with a consignment of ivory. The horns and ivory were returned by the Hong Kong government to allow for further forensic investigation. The wildlife products come from 2 interceptions dating back to 2011 by Hong Kong customs officials.

The rhino horns and ivory arrived at OR Tambo International Airport and will be use by the specialist environmental crimes unit, the Hawks, to try a track down those responsible for the killing of the rhinos and elephants.

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Huge haul of rhino horns, elephant tusks and leopard skins found in Hong Kong

13 rhino horns and 1,120 elephant tusks amongst haul

August 2013. Following an intelligence tip off from Chinese authorities, Hong Kong Customs seized a huge haul of illegal wildlife items. 

During the operation, Hong Kong Customs seized a total of 1,120 ivory tusks, 13 rhino horns and five leopard skins, inside a container shipped from Nigeria to Hong Kong.

Acting on the intelligence, Hong Kong Customs monitored two suspicious containers shipped from Nigeria. On August 6, Customs officers detained the two containers, which were declared as containing "Red Cam Process Wood" for inspection and found 21 sealed wooden crates, disguised as timber, hidden at the rear of one of the containers.

Lack of arrests

Whilst Wildlife Extra applauds the work of the authorities, and all of those that have made the many seizures of ivory and other wildlife products recently, it seems that very few, if any, arrests are made in conjunction with these seizures. It seems very odd that it is so difficult for the authorities to be able to trace the owners/shippers of these items. Additionally, if the authorities know or suspect that there are illegal items on board, can they not track the containers to their destination and seize them, and those responsible, there?

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Four rhino heads stolen from museum in Dublin

Rhino horns stolen from museum storage

April 2013. Four rhinoceros heads were stolen from premises of the National Museum of Ireland late in the evening of Wednesday 17 April 2013. A security guard was overpowered by a number of raiders and tied up but has not been injured. He managed to free himself and notify Gardaí who are investigating the robbery.

The stolen rhinoceros heads have a total of eight horns that have probably been taken to supply the illegal trade in powdered horn that is used in traditional medicines in the Far East. Their price is based on weight and the total amount stolen could have a street value in the region of €500,000. 

Not on display

Rhinoceros horns have been taken from rhinos poached in the wild for many years and several species of rhino have been brought to the edge of extinction because of this. In recent years, thieves have turned to museums and private collections that include rhino taxidermy and artworks that include rhino horn. Many museums have taken rhinoceros horn off display as a result. The National Museum of Ireland took the decision to remove all rhinoceros horn from display and the stolen specimens were placed in storage over a year ago. Currently there are no rhinoceros horns on display in the National Museum of Ireland - Natural History. 

Irish gang

The theft of rhino horn shows how organised criminals are always on the lookout for new and creative crime opportunities. Significant players within this area of crime have been identified as an Irish and ethnically-Irish organised criminal group, who are known to use intimidation and violence to achieve their ends. To source and acquire rhino horns, the group has targeted antique dealers, auction houses, art galleries, museums, private collections and zoos, resorting to theft and aggravated burglary where necessary. To sell specimens, they have exploited international auction houses in the UK, France, USA and China.

Elements of this group are also involved in a variety of other serious crimes across the European Union such as drugs trafficking, organised robbery, distribution of counterfeit products, tarmac fraud and money laundering. Outside the EU, they have been active in North and South America, South Africa, China and Australia. 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/dublin-rhino.html

Irish connection to major rhino horn thefts and smuggling ring

Two Irish brothers fined just 500 Euros for smuggling 8 rhino horns

March 2013. Two men from Ireland have been fined just €500 for smuggling 8 rhino horns worth almost €500,000 through Shannon Airport.

Brothers Jeremiah and Michael O'Brien were stopped in Shannon Airport after getting off a plane from Portugal. The defence told the court that the horns were antique, dating from the 1960s, and not from a freshly killed rhino. The brothers claimed that they acquired the horns from a Portuguese antique dealer named Hernandez, who entrusted the horns to the O'Briens ‘to mount them on a board' before returning with them to Portugal.

Separate incident
In a separate incident, another man from Limerick has been extradited to the UK in connection with the robbery of a rhino horn from an antique dealer. Michael Kealy is accused of stealing a rhino horn from an antique dealer in a Macdonald's car park.

Irish gang
In fact Europol have been investigating links between an Irish gang and rhino horn smuggling for at least 2 years. The investigation was launched after a spate of robberies around Europe where rhino horns were stolen from museums and antique dealers. The gang members are almost from the town Rathkeale, just south west of Limerick, in Ireland, which makes it all the more surprising that the O'Brien brothers, who also hail from Rathkeale, were find just 500 Euros for being in possession of 8 rhino horns.

Europol states "Significant players within this area of crime have been identified as an Irish and ethnically-Irish organised criminal group, who are known to use intimidation and violence to achieve their ends. To source and acquire rhino horns, the group has targeted antique dealers, auction houses, art galleries, museums, private collections and zoos, resorting to theft and aggravated burglary where necessary. To sell specimens, they have exploited international auction houses in the UK, France, USA and China. Elements of this group are also involved in a variety of other serious crimes across the European Union such as drugs trafficking, organised robbery, distribution of counterfeit products, tarmac fraud and money laundering. Outside the EU, they have been active in North and South America, South Africa, China and Australia."

Arrested in Switzerland
Two members of the gang were also arrested in Switzerland in 2012 in possession of counterfeit cash totalling 120,000 Euros, and they are also thought to have been under investigation in the USA in connection with the smuggling of rhino horns.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/irish-rhino.html

3 separate ivory seizures in Kenya totalling more than 380 ivory tusks as well as 5 rhino horns

Largest seizure in Kenya in recent history
September 2012. Two suspects were arrested and 317 pieces of raw elephant ivory, weighing 2 tonnes, and five rhino horns were seized at Nairobi Airport. Investigations are continuing over the source and sender and recipient of the illegal cargo, which had been disguised as avocado fruits. 

The tusks may have been collected from natural deaths of about 150 elephants over the last 20 years, and DNA tests will be conducted to determine the tusks actual origin.

The cargo was destined for export to Malaysia via Dubai. The cargo which was falsely declared as containing only fresh avocado fruits was packed in 12 wooden boxes which raised a red flag due to its mode of package, weight and destination.

The ivory was packed amongst avocado fruits and wrapped in black polythene paper and banana leaves in wooden boxes. This packaging was intended to disguise the true content of the cargo to evade security detection. 
This is the largest seizure of elephant ivory in Kenya in the recent past which has caused great concern to law enforcers and conservationists as Kenya continues to experience increased elephant and rhino poaching.

62 pieces ivory seized
On September 14th, 62 pieces of elephant ivory weighing 255 kilograms were seized at Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta Airport (JKIA). The tusks were packed in two metallic boxes, labelled as ‘avocados'. However, they were detected and seized by a joint security team comprising of the Kenya Airports Police Unit, the Kenya Revenue Authority (Customs Department) and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

The cargo had been sprayed with pepper and tobacco to avoid detection by sniffer dogs.

Preliminary investigation reveals that the cargo was destined for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, aboard Qatar Airways via Doha.

Third seizure
Police in Kenya also arrested a man who was found with two elephant tusks and four pieces of fake ivory.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/kenya-ivory-trade012.html

Antiques Dealer Caught in Rhino Horn Sting

An antiques dealer has admitted interfering with an investigation into the illegal sale of rhino horns, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office said Wednesday (Aug. 1), describing how the dealer used a pair of fake horns to try to double-cross investigators at one point.   

David Hausman pretended to aid the probe into the illegal sale of a black rhinoceros' head and instead tried to buy the head for himself, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said in a statement.

In a plea deal, Hausman, 67, admitted in federal court on Wednesday (Aug. 1) to obstruction of justice and falsification of records in relation to the sale of the head of another black rhino.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/22053-rhino-horn-dealer-guilty.html