Hanoi seizes 16 kg of rhino horns, ivories

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the discovery of the horns and ivories was made after a check of suspected luggage of a passenger arriving at the airport on April 25 from Doha.

The man said he left Vietnam for Angola on March 29 and Angola for Doha on April 21, and then returned to Vietnam.

He admitted while in Angola, he was hired by a man to transport two packages containing the horns and ivories with a pay of VND50 million (US$2,130).

Further investigation is underway.

Vietnam has banned the trading of elephant tusks since 1992. Trading, storing and transporting ivory is forbidden, with violators fined from VND5-50 million or imprisoned from six months to five years.

Rhino horns are also strictly forbidden from being traded in, imported to or exported from Vietnam as the rhino is on the list of endangered wildlife protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which the country has been a party since 1994.