China News Agency, Johannesburg, June 4 (Reporter Wang Xi) South African Customs confirmed on the 4th that at Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, South African Customs successfully cracked a smuggling case of carrying rhino horns out of the country.

  According to the South African customs report, a few days ago, customs officers at the South African airport found a very suspicious luggage of a passenger going to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates during a routine inspection.

In a subsequent search, the passenger was found to be carrying 17 pieces of rhino horn, which were tightly wrapped in plastic bags and weighed a total of 25 kilograms.

The passenger was subsequently arrested by South African police and will face severe criminal proceedings under South African law.

  South African Customs has revealed that smuggling of rhino horn via international flights has increased significantly in recent years.

In addition, with the improvement of the new crown pneumonia epidemic situation, the protection of rhinos in South Africa has also become more serious.

  On the 26th of last month, South African police seized a case of rhino horn smuggling at Oliver Tambo International Airport.

A man travelling to Singapore was arrested after he was found suspicious by airport security while trying to board a plane with 26kg of rhino horn, while three men are on trial for poaching rhinos in Kruger National Park.

  As the country with the largest number of rhinos in the world, South Africa currently has nearly 80% of the world's rhinos.

According to data released by South Africa's Ministry of Forests, Fisheries and Environment, more than 200 wild animals, including rhinos, were illegally hunted by poachers in South Africa's Kruger National Park alone last year.

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