South African Gets Harsh Sentence in Singapore for Smuggling Rhino Horns
SINGAPORE – A South African man who was caught in Singapore trying to smuggle 11 pieces of rhino horn to Vietnam has been sentenced to 17 months in prison, the severest sentence yet for the crime. In a report in the Straits Times today, it said that 45-year-old Thurman Shiraazudin Aiden Matthews was in transit […]
SINGAPORE – A South African man who was caught in Singapore trying to smuggle 11 pieces of rhino horn to Vietnam has been sentenced to 17 months in prison, the severest sentence yet for the crime.
In a report in the Straits Times today, it said that 45-year-old Thurman Shiraazudin Aiden Matthews was in transit at Changi International Airport when he was caught in January, after flying from South Africa. At least 5 rhinos had been killed to obtain the cache, according to the newspaper.
Matthews had been promised R20,000 for the job. The rhino pieces were estimated by the prosecution at his trial to be worth about $760,000.
The newspaper said that in October last year Matthews met a Chinese man in Johannesburg who offered him a chance to make some “easy money” transporting rhino horn and lion bones to Vietnam.
In two previous rhino-poaching cases that reached trial in Singapore, the sentence was only 15 months.
The story was also posted today by anti-poaching crusader and veterinarian Dr. William Fowlds.
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