Fifty-five pieces of rhino horn were found encased in plaster at an airport in the Vietnamese capital, authorities said Sunday, as the country tries to crack down on sophisticated wildlife smuggling routes.

The communist state is both a consumption hub and popular transit point for the multibillion dollar trade in animal parts.

The 125 kilogram (275 pound) haul of rhino horn discovered at Hanoi's Noi Bai airport on Thursday was found after the carefully disguised shipment aroused suspicion.

Images of the bust show large rhino horns and smaller pieces sitting on a table and police using rods to break the casts apart.

"It took half a day to break them open," a security source told AFP.

It was not immediately clear which African country the shipment originated from.

The parts were found the same day police arrested a key wildlife trafficking suspect and two other men after seven frozen tiger carcasses were discovered in their vehicle in a parking lot.

The busts follow a record seizure in Singapore a week ago of nearly nine tonnes of ivory and a huge stash of pangolin scales destined for Vietnam.

Elephant tusks, pangolins, tiger parts and rhino horn are all sold on the black market in Vietnam, while the rest is smuggled on to China.

But rhino horn is especially prized, with one kilogram fetching up to $60,000.

It is in high demand in Vietnam where some believe that it can help cure diseases and hangovers when ground into powder.

Poachers in Africa have decimated wild rhino populations to meet demand despite the trade being banned globally in the 1970s.

Only about 29,000 rhinos survive in the wild, down from half a million at the beginning of the 20th century, according to conservationists.

Hanoi has long vowed to stem the flow of illegal wildlife criss-crossing its borders but experts say the black market persists thanks to weak law enforcement.

Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Aussie drug offers hope for stamping out wombat-killing disease
Sydney (AFP) July 24, 2019
A disease that has ravaged wombats in southern Australia could be brought under control using a treatment commonly applied by pet owners on cats and dogs, researchers said Wednesday. Mange - which causes wombats to lose some or all of their fur and starve to death within months - has wiped out more than 90 percent of bare-nosed wombats in a single national park on the island state of Tasmania. Squat and furry, wombats are small burrow-dwelling marsupials that are largely nocturnal and walk on ... read more