TRAFFIC, an international wildlife trade monitoring network, has reported that two Vietnamese were arrested in South Africa for trafficking 15 rhino horns.

South African agencies have confirmed the information, adding that the two Vietnamese were arrested in Western Cape province, on their way to Cape Town.

According to local police, South African security officers detected 15 rhino horns in the luggage of two Vietnamese in a public vehicle which going from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

The horns were covered by plastic bags and hid in the luggage.

South African policy said that the Vietnamese people may be members of a rhino smuggling ring.

They will be tried in early December, said Pelham Jones, the spokesman of the Association of South African Private Rhino Horn Owners.

Around 268 rhinos have been killed for horns in this country so far this year. The figure was 122 last year.

PV