Thailand seizes rhino horns worth $5 million in biggest haul for years

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Thailand seizes rhino horns worth $5 million in biggest haul for years

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai customs have confiscated 21 rhino horns with an estimated value of nearly $5 million (4.12 million pounds) in the biggest such seizure in Thailand for years, officials said on Tuesday.

 

Thailand has become a major transit point for the trade in endangered species to other Asian countries.

 

The seizure of the nearly 50 kg (110 lb) of rhino horn came days after 300 kg of elephant ivory was impounded and a month after the discovery of almost 3 tonnes of pangolin scales destined for Laos.

 

"It's the biggest confiscation of rhino horns in 5 to 10 years," said Somkiat Soontornpitakkool, director of Thailand's Wild Fauna and Flora Protection division.

 

The rhino horns were found in luggage sent from Ethiopia to Thailand. Two Thai women who travelled from Vietnam and Cambodia to pick up the luggage ran off when it was subject to a random check, police said. Warrants are now out for their arrest.

 

Global trade in rhino horn is banned by a U.N. convention, but in some fast-growing Asian countries it is prized as an ingredient in traditional medicines to treat everything from fever to cancer.

 

It is estimated that only some 29,000 rhinos are left in the wild today compared to 500,000 at the start of the 20th century, according to the International Rhino Foundation.

 

Africa is home to 80 percent of the world's remaining rhinos.

 

(Reporting by Jutarat Skulpichetrat; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Nick Macfie)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-03-14

 

[Wilsonandson]

The rhino horns were found in luggage sent from Ethiopia to Thailand. Two Thai women who travelled from Vietnam and Cambodia to pick up the luggage ran off when it was subject to a random check, police said. Warrants are now out for their arrest.

This is the bit that puzzles me. How did they escape airport security? This looks Thai related so were these two women allowed to run away? Are the authorities covering something up? A huge black market trade of endangered species here in Thailand?

[BigBadGeordie]

19 minutes ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

 

Thailand has become a major transit point for the trade in endangered species to other Asian countries.

A hub, at last Thailands claims of being a hub are verifiable.

[sinbin]

20 minutes ago, Wilsonandson said:

This is the bit that puzzles me. How did they escape airport security? This looks Thai related so were these two women allowed to run away? Are the authorities covering something up?

Exactly. Something stinks . May be this is staged managed?

[onemorechang]

The real sad thing is .

The stupid idiots that want the Rhino Horn.

and other body parts from other animals, like Tiger bones.

What a sad bunch they truly are.

A shameful trade,   and shameful customers .

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2017 by onemorechang

[Elkski]

so sad....  Who are the crazy people who think these horns have powers?   that is a lot of money per horn?  Maybe the compound can be synthesized in a lab to alleviate this demand? 

[fruitman]

5 million baht or 4.12 million uk pounds....yeah right...total value 4 mill pounds i think it should be.

 

But what is it with Laos? Do they have so much money there? Yesterday they caught a smuggler with a kg of cocaine travelling to Laos and now a load of expensive rhino-horns. Are there many rich people in Laos who can afford this? Or is it going to china via laos?

 

1 rhinohorn is about 150k euro i read last week when thieves cut the horn of a rhino in Paris who lived in a zoo.

[tukkytuktuk]

Why Are Rhino Horns Worth More Than Gold?

[tukkytuktuk]

If your interested a documentary on the trade of Rhino horn in Vietnam recently is also on youtube. I have not  posted a link because it contains very graphic footage of dieing rhinos. Just look for this...

Save The Rhino Vietnam

It's about 20-30 minutes long.

Edited March 14, 2017 by tukkytuktuk

[gdgbb]

2 hours ago, Wilsonandson said:

This is the bit that puzzles me. How did they escape airport security? This looks Thai related so were these two women allowed to run away? Are the authorities covering something up? A huge black market trade of endangered species here in Thailand?

Presumably the luggage was checked at the Customs green channel were most passenger just walk out, hardly a secure area and someone determined enough could do a runner into the public area of the airport without too much difficulty.  Thais would be able to disappear into the crowd very easily.

[gdgbb]

49 minutes ago, fruitman said:

5 million baht or 4.12 million uk pounds....yeah right...total value 4 mill pounds i think it should be.

It said $5m (GBP4.12m), what's wrong with that?  Baht wasn't mentioned.

[gdgbb]

15 minutes ago, tukkytuktuk said:

If your interested a documentary on the trade of Rhino horn in Vietnam recently is also on youtube. I have not  posted a link because it contains very graphic footage of dieing rhinos. Just look for this...

Save The Rhino Vietnam

It's about 20-30 minutes long.

What's the difference between your explaining how to easily find a graphic video and your linking to the same graphic video?

[petedk]

It was on BBC News this morning.

Jonathon Head hinted that police or customs officials were probably involved.

You could see on the cctv the two women calmly walk away as their luggage was being scanned. No one made any effort to stop them.

Sent from my BLL-L22 using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[daveAustin]

10 hours ago, onemorechang said:

The real sad thing is .

The stupid idiots that want the Rhino Horn.

and other body parts from other animals, like Tiger bones.

What a sad bunch they truly are.

A shameful trade,   and shameful customers .

We can only wish the sados that seek it out get sick and perish.

[chainarong]

The Thai position is not quite so clear on trading, they gloss over their own short fall,  on the one hand elephant ivory from Africa is band but ivory from Asian Elephants is allowed, therefore cutting out any opposition from Africa whilst there own goes gang busters, and in between trying to convince the International community Thailand is doing all it can,  Thailand fools no one in this sham, it would be a different story perhaps if the Hi So weren't heavily involved, fortunately for the Asian Rhino , it is in safe hands ................................

Edited March 15, 2017 by chainarong

[madmitch]

11 hours ago, Wilsonandson said:

This is the bit that puzzles me. How did they escape airport security? This looks Thai related so were these two women allowed to run away? Are the authorities covering something up? A huge black market trade of endangered species here in Thailand?

It's also puzzling how they, according to the report, travelled from Vietnam and Cambodia and not from Ethiopia. 

 

Hoe the hell could 21 rhino horns escape the luggage scanners in Addis Ababa? I suppose that's a rhetorical question as we all probably know the answer; some African countries make the corruption money in Thailand look like loose change!

 

 

 

 

[klauskunkel]

yesterday elephant tusks, today rhino horns, looks like Thai officialdon is vigorously battling foreign wildlife trade..., but not doing so much against domestic tiger killers.

[Jimbo2014]

They need to swap the drug and poaching penalties - hang the poachers high and give the drug offenders a slap on the wrist.  Terrible.

[steveyinasia]

I watched this on the news today and they were caught at the screening area whilst exiting.  I have been through BKK airport a hundred times in 3 years and I have only had my bag checked there twice, most of the time the customs people look uninterested or half asleep.    I does look like a uniformed officer tried to have the bags removed from screening however another officer insisted on the screening.  How dod the bags pass the internal screening?  Are bags screened internally on arrived or only departure?  Great for this to be stopped, more needs to be done.

[Mosha]

What were the to BIB doing there? Only ever seen customs officers when I've passed through. They seemed to be interfering with the customs process.

Sent from my iris 505 using Tapatalk

[sinbin]

1 hour ago, Mosha said:

What were the to BIB doing there? Only ever seen customs officers when I've passed through. They seemed to be interfering with the customs process.

Sent from my iris 505 using Tapatalk
 

Post ID 4.

[sanukjim]

14 hours ago, sinbin said:

Exactly. Something stinks . May be this is staged managed?

Those horns if they were legal(and some of the 50 year old ones are still legal) would be worth at least $30,000,000. The LOS government will proberly make a show of burning a pile of look alike plastic while these horns will go to private collections later to be found as more then 50 years old and legal to own.

[sanukjim]

3 hours ago, petedk said:

It was on BBC News this morning.

Jonathon Head hinted that police or customs officials were probably involved.

You could see on the cctv the two women calmly walk away as their luggage was being scanned. No one made any effort to stop them.

Sent from my BLL-L22 using Thaivisa Connect mobile app
 

petedk Check out responce # 22

[worgeordie]

The 2 police officers,seemed to be "assisting" the 2 women to get their cases

through customs,without been x-rayed,only a customs officer who was determined 

on doing his job,as soon as the woman seen the cases were going to be screened

they quickly buggered off,kudos for the customs officer,hope he gets no backlash,

the 2 police officers should be found and questioned,

 

regards worgeordie

[tukkytuktuk]

What's the difference between your explaining how to easily find a graphic video and your linking to the same graphic video?

It's not the same as the one I posted a Link too.

[elgordo38]

15 hours ago, onemorechang said:

The real sad thing is .

The stupid idiots that want the Rhino Horn.

and other body parts from other animals, like Tiger bones.

What a sad bunch they truly are.

A shameful trade,   and shameful customers .

 

 

 

On an earlier thread about the number of elephants increasing hmm when looking at the rhino numbers quote  It is estimated that only some 29,000 rhinos are left in the wild today compared to 500,000 at the start of the 20th century, according to the International Rhino Foundation. unquote it is hard to fathom any increase in elephant numbers here or even for that fact a stable elephant population. These animals are under attack because as one poster states the so called magical powers that some idiots think these horns contain and then you have poachers many of whom do this for pure greed or possibly to survive. Another poster says "hang em" hmm I am not a violent person but am trending in that direction as we are looking at the erasure of animal species once gone they only will remain as pictures in magazines. 

[tukkytuktuk]

On an earlier thread about the number of elephants increasing hmm when looking at the rhino numbers quote  It is estimated that only some 29,000 rhinos are left in the wild today compared to 500,000 at the start of the 20th century, according to the International Rhino Foundation. unquote it is hard to fathom any increase in elephant numbers here or even for that fact a stable elephant population. These animals are under attack because as one poster states the so called magical powers that some idiots think these horns contain and then you have poachers many of whom do this for pure greed or possibly to survive. Another poster says "hang em" hmm I am not a violent person but am trending in that direction as we are looking at the erasure of animal species once gone they only will remain as pictures in magazines. 

And once they're gone the human race won't be far behind.

[Kasset Tak]

Strolling around Vientiane I found a traditional medicine pharmacy, they had everything from dried herbs and minerals in rock form to tiger skins, rhino horns and ivory tusks. I have also seen shops like that in Bangkok's Chinatown and in Hanoi.

And you can also find all kind of these things in Jatujak weekend market!