Three bust trying to sell rhino horns

THE Hawks Endangered Species Unit has arrested three men for allegedly intending to sell rhino horns to an undercover agent.

The three suspects – Pieter van Zyl‚ 67‚ Marco Swanepoel‚ 35‚ and Stephan Mylie‚ 30 – were detained on Wednesday evening in a sting operation in Equestria‚ Pretoria.

“It is alleged that the three intended to sell five rhino horns and . . . they were rounded up by the Hawks members,” Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said.

“The trio were led to their hideout‚ Van Zyl’s house‚ where a further three rhino horns were found and seized.

“The eight horns are estimated to be worth more than R800 000.”

On Thursday, the team had gone back to the same house as part of their ongoing investigation and were stunned to find a massive haul of almost 105 rhino horns‚ the value of which had yet to be determined.

“Van Zyl, a well-known game farmer, alleges the rhino horns belong to him.

“Despite that claim‚ the Hawks team is validating the alleged permits issued by the Department of Environmental Affairs.

“We are also taking DNA samples of all the horns to compare them to the Rhodis database at Onderstepoort‚” Mulaudzi said.

Meanwhile, the three men appeared in the Pretoria Regional Court on Friday, where Van Zyl was granted R20 000 bail, while Swanepoel and Mylie were released on R10 000 bail each.

The case was postponed to October 12. – TMG Digital