A special police unit made their easiest arrest yet when two Chinese men walked into a Cape Town police station claiming R60‚000 worth of rhino horn and ivory.
The men‚ aged 24 and 27‚ had left a bag containing the items as well as processed pieces of abalone and their passports in a restaurant in Hout Bay on Sunday night after an evening of wining and dining.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said they went back to the restaurant the following afternoon to claim the backpack.
“The seemingly oblivious duo were then directed to the nearby police station where the parcel (had been) handed in for safekeeping‚” he said.
“Upon their arrival‚ members of the elite Organised Crime Endangered Species Unit were activated‚ culminating in the arrest of the two on the spot.
“They have been charged with unlawful possession of rhino horn and ivory‚” said Ramovha.
The two men are expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Duo walk into police station asking for their lost rhino horn and ivory - and end up in cell
The men‚ aged 24 and 27‚ had left a bag containing the items as well as processed pieces of abalone and their passports in a restaurant in Hout Bay on Sunday night after an evening of wining and dining.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said they went back to the restaurant the following afternoon to claim the backpack.
“The seemingly oblivious duo were then directed to the nearby police station where the parcel (had been) handed in for safekeeping‚” he said.
“Upon their arrival‚ members of the elite Organised Crime Endangered Species Unit were activated‚ culminating in the arrest of the two on the spot.
“They have been charged with unlawful possession of rhino horn and ivory‚” said Ramovha.
The two men are expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
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