Malaysia seizes $3.1 million worth of rhino horns at airport 😦😠https://t.co/LHuEytcmUP via @nigeriantribune— GlobalAwareness101 (@Mononoke__Hime) April 10, 2017
Nigerian Tribune
written by Staff
Monday April 10, 2017
Malaysian authorities have seized about $3.1 million worth of rhinoceros horns flown in from Mozambique via Qatar, the latest seizure in Asia of products from endangered species to feed demand for traditional remedies, officials said on Monday, according to a Reuters report.
Malaysia is a major transit point for the trade in endangered species to other Asian countries although a customs official told Reuters Malaysia was believed to have been the final destination of the 18 horns.
Customs officials at Kuala Lumpur International Airport found the more than 51 kg (112 lb) of horns on Friday, after a tip-off, packed in wooden crates in a cargo warehouse, airport customs director Hamzah Sundang told a news conference.
The horns had been shipped to Malaysia via Doha, Qatar, on a Qatar Airways flight, using false documents and declared “Obra de arte” or “objects of art”, Hamzah said.
“The address of the consignee and the agent of the recipient didn’t exist. All the documentation used for the shipment were false,” Hamzah told the news conference at the airport customs complex.
No suspects had been detained and investigations were continuing, he said.
The office of Qatar Airways in Kuala Lumpur did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
African rhino horns worth RM13.6mil seized at KLIA https://t.co/EFZ4Egyvib via @staronline— GlobalAwareness101 (@Mononoke__Hime) April 11, 2017
The Star, Malaysia
written by Nadirah H. Rodzi
Tuesday April 11, 2017
SEPANG: The KLIA Customs Department foiled an attempt to smuggle in some RM13.6mil worth of African rhinoceros horns, making it the first and biggest such haul in the country.
Its director Datuk Hamzah Sundang said 18 horns, weighing about 51.44kg, were seized from a package that was flown in from Mozambique in a Qatar Airways flight.
“We acted based on a tip off. The shipment transited in Doha, prior to its arrival at our air cargo warehouse at the free trade zone at about 5.40pm last Friday,” he told a press conference yesterday.
Hamzah said the horns could be of African rhinos, given the origin of the package.
The shipment’s final destination was marked as Nilai, Negri Sembilan.
“Initial investigations found that the package was declared as ‘Obra De Arte’ (objects of art in Portuguese). The address in Nilai was also fake,” he said.
It is an offence to import the horns unless a permit is issued by the Wildlife and National Parks Department.
Asked what the horns were for, he said it could be for medicinal purposes.
No arrest has been made so far.
The case is being investigated under Section 135 (1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967 for smuggling prohibited goods.
A person convicted would be liable to a fine of not less than 10 times the amount of the Customs duty or RM50,000, whichever is lower, and not more than 20 times the Customs duty or RM100,000, whichever is higher, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both.
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