A man was arrested on Sunday after authorities at the Hong Kong International Airport found 3.1 kilograms of suspected rhino horn pieces in his suitcase.
The passenger was a 21-year-old male who arrived from Beira, Mozambique via Johannesburg, South Africa and Doha, Qatar, according to a release from the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department.
The suspected rhino pieces — worth an estimated HK$620,000 (US$79,000) — were discovered inside a black plastic bag in his check-in suitcase.
The incident is the second seizure of rhino horn at the airport in two weeks. Earlier in June, Hong Kong Customs arrested a 40-year-old male passenger traveling from Johannesburg, South Africa after discovering rhino horn and ivory in his luggage.
Rhino horn is nothing more than keratin, a protein found in human hair and fingernails. But its demand is driven by false beliefs about its medicinal benefits, and contributed to over 1,000 rhino deaths in South Africa just last year.
Importing or exporting an endangered species, like the black rhino, without a license is punishable in Hong Kong by a maximum fine of HK$10 million (US$1.27 million) and imprisonment for 10 years.
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