A Vietnamese man has been caught attempting to smuggle over seven kilograms of rhino horns from Angola into Ho Chi Minh City by hiding them inside milk cans.

Customs officers at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, in coordination with an anti-smuggling unit under the Ministry of Public Security, arrested V.X.D., 41, hailing from the north-central province of Ha Tinh, on Friday.

D. was caught illegally transporting 12 pieces of rhino horn weighing a total of 7.2 kilograms after his flight from Angola.

The wildlife parts were hidden inside four milk cans.

Officers are collecting statements from other suspects and conducting a further investigation into the case.

Rhino horn is erroneously believed to have medicinal properties in many parts of Asia, including Vietnam.

However, scientists have proved that the horn simply contains what one can find in human fingernails.

In accordance with Vietnamese law, the importation of rhino horns, as with all animals protected by the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), is strictly prohibited. 

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