SINGAPORE, Nov 18 — Singapore seized a record 35.7kg of smuggled rhinoceros horns worth about SG$1,130,000 (RM3.61 million) en route to Laos, the largest haul in the country to date, its National Parks Board said today.
The haul was found earlier this month in a shipment of four pieces of cargo declared as furniture fittings and also contained around 150kg of other animal parts, including bones, teeth, and claws.
The authorities said investigations showed the horns belonged to white rhinoceroses and originated from South Africa. Species identification for the other animal parts is ongoing.
All rhino species are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which means it is illegal to trade them internationally. The city-state is a signatory to the convention.
"Singapore adopts a zero-tolerance stance on the illegal trade of endangered wildlife species, and their parts and derivatives," said a joint press release by the National Parks Board and the air cargo handler SATS.
The authorities said the wildlife parts were detected during routine screening and acceptance checks by SATS. A staff member detected an odour emanating from the shipment, prompting more thorough inspections of all four packages and alerting the police and the National Parks Board.
The horns will be disposed of in accordance with international guidelines to prevent them from re-entering the market.
Despite international campaigns to crack down on poachers and smugglers, demand for rhino horns has remained strong, driven by their use in traditional medicine and their role as status symbols in many Asian countries.
The maximum penalties for trading endangered species through Singapore are a fine of up to SG$200,000 (RM639,197) for each specimen, with the total not exceeding SG$1 million (RM3.2 million). Smugglers could also face up to eight years in jail.
The biggest previous haul was seized in October 2022, when 34.7kg of rhinoceros horns were found in two pieces of baggage at Singapore's Changi Airport. The owner of the bags was sentenced to 24 months in jail in January last year.
In September, a Kenyan court charged a man with trading two rhinoceros horns worth 8.2 million Kenyan shillings (RM263,070), nine years after he was jailed for ivory smuggling.
