Customs officers at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport on July 31 discovered a passenger illegally trafficking in forbidden rhino horns from Africa.

Rhino horns hidden in milk boxes.

The 42-year-old Vietnamese came back to Vietnam on a flight from Doha, Qatar. His luggage was checked and found to be carrying four African rhino horns, which were cut into pieces and hidden in milk boxes.

The horns were estimated to worth around 4.5 billion VND (200,000 USD) on the black market.

Environmental groups say rhino poaching has escalated in recent years, driven by the demand for horns in Asian countries. It is used in traditional Chinese medicine, but more commonly as a status symbol to display someone’s success and wealth.

In fact, rhino horns are made of the same material as human fingernails and hair, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

VNA