Fifty-five pieces of rhino horn weighing 125.15kg were discovered hidden in plaster at Noi Bai International Airport recently, Hanoi Customs have announced.

Rhino horns hidden in plaster that were transported to Vietnam by plane.
(Photo: VNA)

The pieces of horn were shipped via an airline in 14 shipments that were registered with green-line declaration to avoid a customs check.

The authorities had to break the plaster to uncover the horns inside.

On July 23, Hanoi’s police found seven frozen tigers in a car in the basement parking lot of Indochina Building on Xuan Thuy street, Cau Giay district.

A key leader of the tiger trafficking ring was arrested.

Three people were in the car when police decided to search it – 52-year-old Nguyen Huu Hue, 34-year-old Phan Van Vui and 28-year-old Ho Anh Tu, all from the central province of Nghe An.

Hue told police he bought the tigers in Laos and carried them to Hanoi to sell them. Police said Hue had led a tiger trafficking ring for years.