Hawks seize rhino horn worth R6.6-million at OR Tambo International Airport

A routine search at OR Tambo International Airport on Wednesday afternoon revealed a stash of rhino horn with an estimated value of R6.6-million.

The Hawks said officers from its Serious Organised Crime took the 28-year-old Chinese national into custody and he is due in the Kempton Park Magistrates Court on Friday.

A statement said the suspect “was in transit from Namibia to board a South African Airways flight to Hong Kong” when he was caught with “18 rhino horns weighing about 43kg concealed in his travel bags”.

He is to be charged for dealing in rhino horn under the Endangered Spices Act.