Thailand Custom officers seize $5m worth of Rhino horns smuggled from Ethiopia

Twenty-one rhino horns worth an estimated $5m have been seized in Thailand after being found in luggage sent from Ethiopia in the biggest such haul in years. The seizure comes days after 300kg of elephant ivory was also impounded in the country. Thailand is seen as a transit point for the illegal trafficking of wildlife. Several species of rhino are at critical risk of extinction, conservationists say.
The horns arrived at Bangkok's international airport where two Thai women who had travelled from Vietnam and Cambodia came to collect them. According to Thai police, they ran off when the luggage was subjected to a random check. Officials describe the incident as an elaborate smuggling effort which involved several other people inside Thailand and abroad.