Guinean Arrested with Illegal Rhinoceros Horns Worth More than 10 Million Baht

Officers found eight rhinoceros horns weighing a total of 9.6 kilograms hidden in the suspect’s luggage

 

BANGKOK – Doukoure N’Falya Guinean man was arrested on Saturday at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok,Thailand after he was found with illegal rhinoceros horns worth more than 10 million baht (US $320,000.

Guinean man Doukoure N’Faly

 

Doukoure  31 was caught with eight rhinoceros horns weighing a total of 9.6 kilograms hidden in his luggage. Paisarn Cheunjit, director of investigation said the suspect boarded Ethiopian Airlines from Entebbe, Uganda in route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Doukoure told investigators that the luggage was not his and that it belonged to his Guinean friend who arrived in Thailand before him. He said his friend forgot to take the luggage and offered pay expenses for bringing the luggage.

Paisarn said the confiscation is in line with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) and Thailand’s Wild Animal Preservation and Protection Act (1992).

Rhinoceros horns are highly prized for supposed healing qualities and the belief that they are a powerful aphrodisiac.