Customs officers uncovered almost 7 kilos (15 kilos) of horns from critically endangered black rhinos being trafficked by a German airport.
The cargo, value greater than 340,000 British kilos ($428,000) on the black market, was being despatched to Vietnam.
German officers at Leipzig Airport discovered 16 items of rhino horn weighing 6.7 kilograms (14.7 kilos) arriving on a flight from Angola in southern Africa.
The contraband had been hidden in a false-bottomed packing crate that contained a chandelier.
Customs spokesperson Marvin Christmann mentioned in an announcement launched Tuesday: "The bundle got here from Angola and was to be transported to Vietnam through Germany.
"The elements of the horn have been elaborately hidden."
He mentioned that the consignment contained a chandelier however an "X-ray confirmed irregularities."
After opening the bundle, customs officers discovered that the wood field wherein the chandelier was stowed contained "a false backside."
The customs officer added that upon opening it, they discovered 16 items of rhinoceros horn, "compacted with sawdust."
The German customs officer mentioned: "Based on the Washington Conference on Endangered Species, rhinos are a very protected household of odd-toed ungulates with 5 species nonetheless alive in the present day.
"The import or transit of elements of those animals, due to this fact, requires particular paperwork. With out the suitable paperwork, import and transit represent a violation of the Federal Nature Conservation Act and might be punished with imprisonment for as much as 5 years or a superb."
It is unclear if the German customs had detained any suspects on the time of writing, however Christmann additionally mentioned that in December 2021, customs officers at Leipzig Airport had discovered 15 items of rhinoceros horn that had been hidden inside a speaker and an electrical welder.
The black rhinoceros is listed as a critically endangered species on the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Pink Listing of Threatened Species, and the African Wildlife Basis says that fewer than 5,000 black rhinos exist within the wild in the present day.
The black rhinoceros, often known as the hook-lipped rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), is a critically endangered species of rhinoceros present in southern Africa.
The inspiration says that the horns can typically promote for as a lot as $60,000 per kilogram on the black market.
In some nations in Asia, they're coveted as a social standing image, whereas in different nations, they're incorrectly marketed as elements to treatment a variety of illnesses, from widespread complications to lethal cancers.
In Yemen, regardless of an import ban, rhino horn is coveted by Muslim males when used for the handles of curved ceremonial daggers known as "jambiya," that are introduced to boys at age 12 as an emblem of reaching manhood.
This story was offered to Newsweek by Zenger Information.
Post a Comment