Czech Authorities Seize Rhino Horns Worth 100 Million
The Czech customs officers along with the Czech Environment Inspection seized 24 horns of white rhinoceros illegally imported by an international gang from South Africa, Ales Hruby, from the customs authority, told journalists today. The trophies were worth 100 million crowns, Hruby said. It has been the biggest “haul” in the history of the Czech Republic since 1993.
The police arrested the members of the gang. Charges were levelled against 16 persons, 15 of whom were detained, Hruby said. If convicted, they may be sentenced up to eight years in prison, he added. Hruby said the customs authority had taken interest in the group since 2011. ”It was found out during the investigation that the import was materialised by an organised group of perpetrators. Based on false data, it gained the CITES import licences for import of rhino horns to the EU,” Hruby said. The horns were imported to the Czech Republic and other countries as trophies, but later they were distributed to Asia where they are precious commodities on the black market. They are mainly used for traditional Asian medicine.
The police said the main organisers had staged hunting expeditions, hiring hunters from the Czech Republic and gaining the required permits in South Africa. ”Under the system, each of the hunters was allowed the shooting of a single rhino at a local farm. As such, a kill is a trophy for the hunter, he can export it as his personal property for noncommercial purposes,” Hruby said. The police refused to elaborate on the origin of the group members, but they said organisers of the crime were among the detained. ”It should be stressed what a tremendous feat was achieved by the Czech Republic by seizing such a tremendous quantity of horn,” Premysl Rabas, head of the zoo in Dvur Kralove, told CTK.
Rhinoceros horns are demanded mainly in China and Vietnam, where the customers believe in their healing effects. The traditional Chinese medicine says rhinoceros horns help cure almost all health troubles, from typhoid, fever and arthritis to evicting evil spirits. That is why rhinos often become a target of poaching.
One may remember this
In February 2012, South Africa’s National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) advised its Provinces to stop issuing hunting permits to Vietnamese citizens until such time as Viet Nam had verified and confirmed that hunting trophies exported from South Africa to Viet Nam were still in legal possession of hunters as hunting trophies. In April 2012, the DEA also issued revised norms and standards for the marking of rhinoceros and rhinoceros horn and for the hunting of rhinoceros for trophy hunting purposes. Compulsory attendance by a wildlife official is now legally required at all rhinoceros hunts, and hunting curriculum vitae from applicants which show their hunting bona fides and experience in their country of origin and with African game are now required before permits may be granted. The norms and standards also require mandatory DNA sampling of horns.
These measures were implemented to prevent pseudo-hunting, whereby individuals with no hunting experience or background are recruited by organized crime groups to hunt rhinoceroses with the purpose of obtaining their horns for purposes other than hunting trophies. The counter-measures have proved CoP16 Doc. 54.2 (Rev. 1) – p. 5effective in that they resulted in a change in modus operandi used by criminal networks: whilst applications for hunting permits from Viet Nam significantly decreased after these measures were implemented, authorities became aware of an increase in hunting permit applications from other countries not historically associated with rhinoceros trophy hunting. In this regard, the Czech Republic’s response to Notification No. 2012/053 indicated that Czech citizens, usually from one area in northern Bohemia, were reported to be recruited by individuals with contacts in the Vietnamese community living in the Czech Republic. These recruited “hunters” are not members of any Czech hunting association, do not have hunting licences and have no previous hunting experience. They allegedly travel to South Africa to hunt a rhinoceros at a selected location, identified by the recruiter. Expenses of the “hunter” are paid by the recruiter, and the recruiter requires the “hunter” to sign a declaration to give up the hunting trophy in favour of the recruiter after the hunt. The “hunter” returns to the Czech Republic after the hunt and the recruiter then obtains an export permit for the rhinoceros horn to be exported to the Czech Republic as a personal hunting trophy of the hunter. Once the trophy reaches the Czech Republic it is laundered into illegal trade. Authorities in the Czech Republic and South Africa have been cooperating to address this new trend.
CoP16 Doc. 54.2 (Rev. 1)
I am just glad that someone had the guts to post in the press that there is corruption at high levels in .gov regarding the poaching. 
