Johannesurg - A rhino horn smuggler has pleaded guilty to possession of the contraband, and was due to be sentenced for his crimes on Wednesday.
Lingyun Sheng was caught with three rhino horns weighing a combined 23kg while in transit from Swaziland, travelling through South Africa en route to Asia, according to animal rights group Activists for Animals Africa (AAA).
The 48-year-old was arrested on September 23 after his luggage was scanned and the horns were seized and analysed by local authorities.
The AAA said the rhino horns had been wrapped in individual boxes, in carbon paper as well as tin foil and finally wrapping paper to avoid X-ray detection.
“The three horns have been positively identified as being from three poached female adult rhinos in the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal on September 16,” the organisation said in a statement.
“They were shot with a high-calibre .375 firearm and their horns forcibly removed. They were grazing 500m apart from one another. One of the females had a tiny calf with her. The calf was removed to a place of safety.
“The rhinos in Hluhluwe were shot in an area 190km from the Swazi border post referred to as Gate 6, which is an uncontrolled border post.
“The suspect claims he went to visit a friend in Swaziland, and when he left, the friend, a Mr Chen, asked him to take the horns and gave him R20 000 for his troubles.”
Sheng was denied bail last month after it was discovered that he was in South Africa illegally with an expired visa.
On Tuesday, he appeared at the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court, where he pleaded guilty to possession of the horns and breaching the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act of 2004.
According to the charge sheet, such a contravention could lead to a fine of up to R10 million or 10 years in prison. The presiding magistrate was due to give his ruling on the sentencing on Wednesday.
The AAA has called for a prison term for Sheng, and compared his case to that of Chumlong Lemtongthai, the head of a horn smuggling ring who in November 2012 was famously sentenced to 40 years in prison after also pleading guilty to his crimes.