Fifty rhino horns and nine carcasses of other wild animals that were set to be shipped to Hanoi were seized at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s postal aviation center on August 13.
After officials of the export branch of Pos Aviation suspected something amiss with a consignment at the cargo terminal building in the airport’s Free Commercial Zone, they contacted Royal Malaysian Customs, which then alerted the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (Perhilitan), according to a Traffic.org report. Perhilitan found some animal parts in the suspect package.
The smuggled goods included 116 kilograms of rhino horns worth 48 million ringgit (US$11.72 million) and nine animal carcasses weighing a total of 200kg and worth 500,000 ringgit, the New Straits Times reported.
The horns were reportedly from African rhinos while the other carcasses were from bears, tigers, panthers and leopards. They were about to be sent to a Hanoi address.
Interpol will help investigate the case.
Since 2016, at least 15 Vietnamese nationals have been detained for wildlife-related offenses in Malaysia.
Read: Key wildlife smuggler gets 2.5 years in jail after rhino haul found
Read: Endangered sea turtle rescued in southern Vietnam
Read: Vietnamese arrested for poaching, smuggling animal parts