Thai customs seizes 21 rhino horns worth $5 million
BANGKOK — Thai authorities said Tuesday they have seized 21 unusually large rhinoceros horns worth almost $5 million that were smuggled from Ethiopia.
The bags carrying the horns were discovered last Friday in a random customs search at Bangkok’s main airport, the Thai Customs Department said in a statement. They discovered the horns, weighing almost 50 kilograms (110 pounds), inside hard-shelled luggage bags originating from Addis Ababa.
The bags’ owners, two Thai women who had arrived on separate flights but went to claim the luggage, fled as officers searched their bags and have not been apprehended, the statement said. Arrest warrants have been issued for them.
Customs officials said the horns are unusually large and pristine.