Rhinoceros Horn Smuggling Ring Busted By Federal Wildlife Investigators

In this file photo provided on Friday Feb. 10, 2012 by World Press Photo, the 1st prize Nature Stories category of the 2012 World Press Photo contest by Brent Stirton, South Africa, Reportage by Getty Images for National Geographic magazine shows "Rhino Wars." (File, AP Photo/Brent Stirton)

LOS ANGELES -- Federal wildlife investigators say they've broken up an international smuggling ring that trafficked in sawed-off rhinoceros horns for buyers in Vietnam and China who believe they cure cancer.

Three of the alleged traffickers caught in Southern California were 49-year-old Jimmy Kha, his 41-year-old girlfriend Mai Nguyen and Kha's 26-year-old son Felix.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe says officials have shut down a major source of black market rhino horns in the lucrative international trade.

Officials also seized more than $1 million in cash, $1 million in gold bars, diamonds, Rolex watches and 20 rhino horns in the raids.

There was no immediate reply to an email request to the agency for comment.

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Comments

[Patric Douglas]

08:58 PM on 02/23/2012

Good bust

[bad spelling grammar]

01:48 PM on 02/23/2012

First of all I want to thank agents that contributed to this bust; we need more people like you on the force. Second, we need punishments that are similar to murder for crimes against endangered species such as life in prison or the death penalty to make people think twice about committing these crimes. Once we punish several of these offenders and the word gets out people will contemplate if the money is worth dying for or spending the rest of their lives in prison. There will always be poachers but harsh punishments for poachers are the first step in trying to reduce their numbers. The other problem is that has the rhino population declines the price of their horns goes up which makes poaching more tempting because of the higher profit which means we need cut down poaching NOW and ensure breeding programs for rhinos across Africa and Asia to increase their numbers.

[Tomaniac]

11:11 AM on 02/23/2012

Near extinction of Rhino's for their horns that contain zero efficaciousness for cancer, but the US Fed's can't reschedule cannabis to allow testing and use for scientifically proven medicinal qualities and continue to threaten other countries with sanctions that do.

I know its a reach, but I blame our US governments non-scientific policies for a lot of the madness in the world that is driving species like the rhino to extinction. Southeast Asia has some of the most severe anti-marijuana enforcement policies in the world due to the US governments over-reach, but thinks nothing of driving a species to extinction to get a powder from a horn that does nothing while our government remains complacent.

[Jim Zubkowski]

11:07 AM on 02/23/2012

i hate governments

[iquitthegop]

10:14 AM on 02/23/2012

greed at is best

[Patricia Holman]

10:09 AM on 02/23/2012

Shocked at all the gov bashing comments-they HAVE been working on this for years. there is a small matter of international law, and corrupt governments in these countries that make it a little more difficult. we can't police the whole world--people in these countries know who are doing these things--they need to step up to the plate too.

[Greg285]

09:47 AM on 02/23/2012

People who believe these horns have some magical powers need to be locked up forever! Come up to the 21st Century already....Leave these animals alone....

[DrJon]

09:30 AM on 02/23/2012

Republican Indiana representative believes that Girl Scouts are behind this plot and use the RINO compound to convert them to communists and lesbians.

[957]

09:29 AM on 02/23/2012

finally after 50 or 60 years you mean

[Rose Murphy]

09:29 AM on 02/23/2012

Hmmm!

[David Campbell]

08:40 AM on 02/23/2012

Please don't let the Republicans know about the curing cancer or it's good-by to rhinos.

[Tomaniac]

11:20 AM on 02/23/2012

They keep denying that cannabis has any curative effects on cancer ignoring recent scientific research supporting it. They want instead to keep rolling in the money coming in from the "War on Drugs" and "Prisons for Profit" instead of turning to the one plant that holds the cure and instead do everything to exterminate and make it extinct.

[SomeRandomPerson]

08:14 AM on 02/23/2012

Strange how this happens just recently after National Geographic did a big story on this type of poaching in their March issue (mine arrived last week).

Well done nonetheless.

[Patricia Holman]

10:01 AM on 02/23/2012

they have been doing tv shows about for guite a while now

[Paulo1]

08:09 AM on 02/23/2012

So finally, after all these years of TSA/FBI/CIA/FatherLand Security abuses I get to look at a federal agency and say: WELL DONE !

[kwaut lizard]

08:05 AM on 02/23/2012

The Feds probably should have considered meeting their treaty obligations to do this 30 years ago when CITES and IUCN drafted their responsibilities, instead of after the demise of the most recently discovered rhino subspecies. In this case it is NOT better late than never.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/25/javan-rhino-extinct-vietnam

[mtm4882]

08:00 AM on 02/23/2012

I liked one of the solutions presented on last night's Rock Center. A group of conservationists drills in tot he horns and injects it with a pesticide which, while harmless to the Rhino, renders it dangerous for human consumption.