Staff Reporter
The Hawks have arrested a second foreign national in a wildlife trafficking case involving rhino horns that may have been hidden behind a fake robbery in North West province.
A 44-year-old foreign national was arrested in Heidelberg on Wednesday and was due to appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
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The man will appear on charges of contravening the National Environmental Management and Biodiversity Act, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation said.
The suspect was allegedly involved in “the staged theft of rhino horns at Haartebeesfontein”. The allegation suggests police believe the robbery may have been used to cover up the illegal movement of the rhino horns.
The Hawks said warrants were executed in Centurion and Heidelberg in an intelligence driven operation involving members of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation’s Wildlife Trafficking Section, Tactical Operations Management Section, Pretoria K9, SAPS Head Office’s Modus Operandi Centre and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment.
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During the Centurion search, “suspected illegal processed elephant ivory to the value of R200 000 were discovered and seized”.
Also on Thursday, Bao Trung, a 52-year-old Vietnamese national and the arrested man’s co-accused, is due to appear in the same court for a formal bail application.
The case is linked to an earlier investigation when two Nigerian nationals were arrested in Kempton Park in December 2025.
Investigators later found that 17 rhino horns recovered in that case were allegedly part of a larger batch of 98 rhino horns reported stolen at Voi Farm in Hartbeesfontein.
It is that reported robbery that police now suspect may have been staged.
Police said at the time that the owner of the rhino horns, a “Vietnamese national”, was “suspiciously not present” when the alleged robbery took place.
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They also linked Bao Trung to the wider case after he was arrested at Cape Town International Airport on February 24 while allegedly trying to board a flight to Singapore.
A Toyota Prado believed to have been used in the commission of the crimes was traced to Woodhill Golf Estate in Pretoria, where it was seized.