Wayne Boonzaaier
20 August 2016
A Chinese man with 10 rhino horns and scores of carved ornaments with an estimated value of R1.5-million was arrested in South Africa as he tried to board a flight to Hong Kong, police said on Friday.
The 48-year-old man was detained on Thursday at Johannesburg's OR Tambo international airport and will appear in court on Monday on charges of trafficking in rhino horns.
South Africa is battling a rhino poaching crisis, with nearly 1,200 animals killed for their horns last year.
Rhino horn is composed mainly of keratin, the same component as in human nails, but the substance is believed in some Asian countries, to have medicinal properties that could cure cancer.
Although scientifically proven to be false, the belief has fuelled a lucrative illegal trade in rhino horn in Asia.
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