R23m rhino horn haul

An important battle in the war on poaching has been won with the discovery of a shipping container filled with rhino horn and ivory valued at R23-million in Hong Kong.

The horn and ivory were confiscated and have been returned to South Africa.

In the container were 33 rhino horns, 758 ivory chopsticks and 127 ivory bracelets.

Returning from Hong Kong early yesterday, Hawks Colonel Johan Jooste said evidence had been gathered that might lead to prosecutions both in Hong Kong and South Africa.

He could not confirm if the horns and ivory were from South Africa, or whether the country had been used as part of a smuggling route.

The container left Cape Town harbour in 2011.

The contraband will be DNA tested in an attempt to link specimens to specific poaching incidents.

South Africa has lost 891 rhino to poachers this year alone.

The trade is largely driven by demand from Southeast Asia.

It has been alleged that Vixay Keosavang, a former military and provincial official in Laos with close ties to government officials in Laos and Vietnam, is a kingpin in the trafficking of wildlife.

During the trial of convicted rhino poacher Chemlong Lemtongthai, a Thai, Keosavang was named as the head of the syndicate that used prostitutes to pose as sanctioned hunters to procure rhino horns.

Last month US Secretary of State John Kerry offered a reward of $1-million (about R10-million) to anyone who could help "disable" Keosavang's trafficking network.

According to US NGO Freeland, the trade is currently worth between $10-billion and $20-billion a year.

Keosavang is implicated in the importing of millions of tons of rhino horn, ivory and pangolins from Africa, and of selling thousands of live animals illegally.

"[His]syndicate has been responsible for the slaughter and illegal trafficking of literally tons and tons of tigers, elephants, rhinos, snakes, turtles, pangolins and other wild creatures for at least nine years," said Freeland director Steven Galster.

"We tried getting national and international agencies to do something about the syndicate until it became clear that our only recourse was to public exposure."