The South Africa – Viet Nam Rhino Horn Trade Nexus (PDF ... - WWF

situation at the source: south africa
The Asian syndicates recruit and orchestrate the movements of a highly fluid network of couriers and
“mules” to move rhino horns out of South Africa. A large proportion of this activity appears focused on
air passengers travelling from southern Africa to Southeast Asia. For example, several Vietnamese students
registered to study within South Africa have been arrested trying to traffic rhino horn out of the
country’s international airports on return to their homelands. Rhino horn seizures have also been
made from Vietnamese travellers from Maputo international airport in Mozambique. In some instances,
the syndicate’s dealers also have overt links to the diplomatic community, including commercial
alliances with diplomatic personnel, access to vehicles bearing diplomatic plates for the risk-free movement
of rhino horn within the country and, possibly, the use of a diplomatic pouch to move contraband
to home markets (see “Vietnamese Embassy personnel” below).
Whilst other Asian nationals, particularly Chinese, appear to be deeply involved in the acquisition and
smuggling of abalone and elephant ivory in South Africa, the Vietnamese community appears to have
the tightest grip on the illicit rhino horn trade, a trend that has increased markedly in recent years. It is
commonly believed that at least 70 Vietnamese nationals have been accorded permanent residency status
in South Africa and some of these individuals have been identified in rhino horn crime. For example,
law enforcement officers believe that at least half of the 24 poached rhinos during 2006 had an
overt Vietnamese connection, and the majority of rhino horn cases occurring in South Africa during
2004 to 2006 that link to foreign nationals involved suspects acting on behalf of Vietnamese citizens
(R. Taylor, in litt. to TRAFFIC, 2009). To date, Vietnamese within South Africa continue to be strongly
implicated in the illegal trade in rhino horn and poaching activities.
Vietnamese Embassy personnel
The Vietnamese Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital city, has been repeatedly implicated
in illicit rhino horn trade. The involvement of Embassy personnel first came to light when Viet
Nam’s Commercial Attaché, Khanh Toan Nguyen, was arrested on 1 April 2006 with two rhino horns, as
well as diamonds and large sums of cash. Under interrogation, this individual allegedly indicated that he
had used a diplomatic bag to move rhino horns to Viet Nam on previous occasions. The invocation of
diplomatic immunity prevented prosecution, but it has been reported that Khanh Toan Nguyen was
“recalled and disciplined” from South Africa (Anon., 2008b). Another press account in 2008 reported:
“Two years ago, Commercial Attaché Khanh Toan, at the Vietnamese Embassy in South Africa, was detected to
have connections to rhino horn smuggling and he was punished” (Anon., 2008a). There is concern within lawenforcement
circles that this individual may have re-entered South Africa on a non-diplomatic passport
on at least one occasion since his initial arrest (R. Taylor, in litt. to TRAFFIC, 2009).
Another Vietnamese diplomat identified as “counselor Pham Cong Dung” 1 was also implicated in another
rhino horn seizure case involving 18 kg found in a vehicle at a casino in Northern Cape province sometime
in 2008 (Anon., 2008a). A Vietnamese citizen using the name “Pham Cong Hang” undertook at least
two rhino hunts in North West province in 2005 (D. Newton, pers. comm., 2010).
The most sensational and public case, however, involved Vu Moc Anh, the Embassy’s First Secretary, who
was filmed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s “50/50”, a weekly investigative journalism
programme, apparently conducting a rhino horn transaction right in front of the Viet Nam Embassy in
Pretoria in September 2008 (AFP, 2008; Anon., 2008b). Aired on national television two months later, an
incriminating film sequence showed “Mrs Moc Anh handing rhino horns to a known smuggler... After the
smuggler took the horns from her and put them into the trunk, Mrs Moc Anh can be seen heading back to the
Embassy smiling” (Anon., 2008b). It was also reported that, at the time Vu Moc Anh conducted her rhino
horn transaction outside the Embassy, the “car of Embassy Counselor Pham Cong Dzung ... is seen parked on
the other side of the road, with a Vietnamese standing next to it. It is unknown why the car of Counselor Dzung
was there at that time and place (while most Embassy cars were parked inside)” (Anon., 2008b).
In the wake of the uproar that followed, this female diplomat was immediately re-called to Viet Nam,
where the country’s Foreign Ministry felt compelled to issue a statement indicating that it “will strictly
punish any violation related to wildlife trafficking” (Anon., 2008). In an interview with a Vietnamese journalist,
Viet Nam’s Ambassador at the time, Mr. Tran Duy Thi, characterized the action as “stemming from pure
greed” and commented that it was “not just a private act, it is one that has repercussion on the Embassy and the
1 This name is spelled Pham Cong Dzung in another article; see Anon., 2008b.
Vietnamese embassy employee.
image of Viet Nam itself” (Anon., 2008b). Ambassador Thi also reported that “Mr Dzung is on leave in
Vietnam. We have requested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summon him for explanation” (Anon., 2008b).
In fact, it remains unclear what subsequently happened to two of the three Vietnamese diplomats who have
been arrested or otherwise implicated in illicit rhino horn trade. In the case of Vu Moc Anh, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has reported in a response to the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Viet Nam office:
Regarding the case of Vu Moc Anh, right after South African press reported that South Africa broadcasting
television had filmed Moc Anh in rhino horn dealing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs had recalled Moc
Anh back to the country for explanation and clarification. Moc Anh confirmed to be recorded while helping
a rhino horn dealer review his papers… Up to now, there has been no evidence on Moc Anh’s involvement
in rhino horn dealing in both Vietnam and South Africa (Tran Quang Tuyen, Deputy Head,
Press and Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in litt. to Wildlife Conservation
Society, 14 March 2012).
It is believed that Vu Moc Anh is now back in Africa at a Vietnamese Embassy in a neighbouring country.
Concerning the other two individuals, it remains unknown if they were ever punished or lost their
jobs working for Viet Nam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is also worth noting that South Africa’s
Department of International Relations and Co-operation has, for the most part, publicly remained
silent on these instances of diplomatic complicity in illegal rhino horn trade. The value of current trade
relations and historical ties with Viet Nam, which was an early supporter of the struggle for liberation
in South Africa and the now-ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, has seemingly trumped the
conservation of the country’s premier flagship species.
South Africa’s law-enforcement community generally expected that direct Embassy complicity in the
rhino horn trade would dissipate in the wake of the embarrassing exposure by the “50/50” television
programme. In fact, on at least two subsequent occasions in 2009, Vietnamese Embassy vehicles were
allegedly involved in the movement of rhino horn within the country, including in the Eastern Cape
and Mpumalanga provinces (R. Taylor, pers. comm., 2009). With diplomatic plates conferring immunity
from “stop and search” operations, it appears that individuals who are not diplomats themselves
gained access to official Embassy vehicles to potentially transport rhino horns within the country.
82 the south africa – viet nam rhino horn trade nexus TRAFFIC 83
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