Ivory carved as Buddha, arriving from Joburg, doesn’t get past Hong Kong customs
Innovative rhino horn smugglers thought they could outsmart Hong Kong airport security by carving the contraband into Buddha statues. However, their efforts were foiled by customs officers who seized several rhino horns with an estimated market value of HK$2.7m (R4.1m) after searching the check-in luggage of passengers arriving on flights from Johannesburg and Madrid.Two of the horns had been carved into miniature statues of Buddha‚ while others were wrapped in tin foil and foam to fox airport security scanning equipment.The Hong Kong customs department said in an official statement that several horns (with a total weight of just more than 12kg and an estimated market value of HK$2.4m were intercepted at Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday.They also arrested two men‚ who arrived in Hong Kong from Johannesburg‚ via Doha‚ Qatar."During customs clearance‚ suspected rhino horns wrapped in aluminium foil and foam were found inside a paper box in their check-in luggage. The two me...
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