CAPE TOWN – A 52-year-old suspect was arrested at Cape Town International Airport on 24 February as he was about to board a flight to Singapore with his family, in connection with rhino poaching.
Police spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the arrest followed a tip-off that led to the execution of a warrant issued by the Kempton Park Magistrates Court. The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) Western Cape assisted in carrying out the arrest.
The suspect appeared briefly in the Bellville Magistrates Court on 25 February.
Mogale said that the suspect has been linked to a Kempton Park case involving possession of rhino horns and predator bones from Hartbeesfontein in North West, in contravention of sections of the National Environmental Management and Biodiversity Act.
The case stems from the arrest of two Nigerian nationals on 1 December 2025.
The rhino horns are alleged to have been from a staged robbery reported on 8 December 2025 at Voi Farm, Hartbeesfontein, where 98 rhino horns were allegedly stolen.
During the investigation, authorities found that 17 of the rhino horns recovered on 1 December 2025 were part of the 98 stolen on 8 December 2025.
Investigators established that the owner of the rhino horns was a Vietnamese national who was not present at the time of the robbery.
The vehicle suspected to have been used in the crime was traced to Woodhill Golf Estate in Pretoria, where search warrants were applied for and approved.
The warrants were executed in a joint operation by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation’s Wildlife Trafficking section headquarters with assistance from the Tactical Operations Management Section, SAPS K9 Pretoria, Forensic Science Laboratories and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment headquarters.
The operation resulted in the seizure of a Toyota Prado suspected to have been used in the commission of the crime.
The acting National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Lieutenant General Patrick Mbotho, said the DPCI will remain steadfast in stamping out wildlife trafficking and related serious organised crime.
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