Czechmate for horn smuggling pipeline

The Czech Republic has charged three Vietnamese alleged to be members of an international crime syndicate specialising in trafficking rhino horn.

According to Stephanka Zenclova, spokesman for the municipal state attorney's office in Prague, the accused face up to eight years in prison if convicted. They have been in custody since July 2013 and were charged on Wednesday.

Police seized incriminating items and documents during searches of homes in two Czech towns, and in Prague's Sapa market place.

The authorities suspect that the group intended to export rhino horn to Vietnam without the required permits and sell it on the black market at a huge profit.

A Czech dossier shows that vast quantities of rhino horn have been moved from South Africa to eastern Europe, where inspection of imports is lax, and re-exported to Vietnam.

The practice is called "round-tripping".

Forensic analysis showed that the seized horns had been hacked from a southern white rhino hunted by a Czech man at a Limpopo hunting farm near Ellisras.

It is believed the farm is owned by a Czech couple.

The horns are thought to have been acquired as hunting trophies, in contravention of international regulations and CITES protocols, and exploiting loopholes in South Africa's conservation and hunting permit system.

Czech investigators believe there were more than 25 rhino hunts arranged by Czechs in Limpopo alone. Loopholes in the conservation and hunting regulations allowed the syndicates to stage them.

But these were not rhino trophy hunting trips for "sport". They were cold-blooded executions of rhino, the investigators said.

The breakthrough in the case was made when Czech customs officials at Prague's Vaclav Havel Airport X-rayed a shipping crate destined for Vietnam in late 2013.

The crate was labelled "Wiring accessories".

According to Sarka Miskovska, of the Czech customs service, officials discovered two rhino horns covered in plastic film and coated with resin concealed inside a heavy spool of wire.

"The horns weighed about 6.77kg and are worth about $360000 on the international black market," said Simona Ciqankova, of the Czech Republic's environmental inspectorate.

A bear's gall bladder was also concealed in the container.

Bile extracted from bear gall-bladders is sold at a premium in Vietnam.

The Czech authorities allege that the group hired proxy hunters to kill rhino at Prachtig, near Musina, the farm of controversial safari outfitter Dawie Groenewald.