SA man on the horns of Singapore jail term
Singapore – A Singapore court sentenced a South African man to two years in jail yesterday for smuggling rhino horns, the heaviest sentence yet handed down in the city-state for smuggling wildlife parts.
Sthembiso Joel Gumede, 33, was arrested at Singapore’s Changi airport in 2022 after authorities found 20 rhino horns weighing 34.7kg in his bags.
Sniffer dogs detected the contraband in his baggage while he was travelling from South Africa to Laos through Singapore.
They were worth about Sg$1.2 million (about R17 million) – the city-state’s largest seizure of rhino horn.
He was handed the sentence after pleading guilty to two charges of transiting with rhino horns without a valid permit.
“This is the heaviest sentence meted out in Singapore to date for a case involving the smuggling of wildlife parts,” Singapore’s National Parks Board said.
After undergoing forensic analysis, 18 horns were determined to be from 15 different white rhinos, while another two horns were from a single black rhino, the parks board said.
Rhinos are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) and international trade in their horns is prohibited.
Home to nearly 80% of the world’s rhinoceroses, South Africa is a poaching hotspot, driven by demand from Asia. The government said 448 of the rare animals were killed across the country in 2022, only three fewer than in 2021 despite increased protection at national parks.
Rhino horns are considered status symbols and believed to have medicinal properties in parts of Asia.
They are also carved into jewellery and household items, including combs, buttons and belt buckles.