Customs officers at the Ho Chi Minh City international airport discovered Thursday five rhinoceros horns worth around VND6 billion (US$375,200) in the luggage of a Vietnamese man flying in from South Africa. Tran Van Lap, 48, admitted he was carrying them for a Vietnamese-American living in the U.S. He had transited through Singapore, escaping detection there.
He is now in the custody of the city police who have taken over the investigation.
Possession and trading of rhino horns and other wildlife parts is illegal in Vietnam.