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Thai prostitutes were given about US$800 to fly to South Africa to stage fake hunts and pose next to rhinos killed by someone else.

Thai man pleads guilty to smuggling rhino horn from South Africa

Women posed as big game hunters as part of ring trafficking rhino horns

A Thai man has pleaded guilty to smuggling rhino horn from South Africa, in a bizarre case in which prostitutes posed as big game hunters to conceal an international trafficking ring.

Chumlong Lemtongthai is likely to be jailed for more than 10 years under Monday's plea deal that investigators said sealed one of the most important prosecutions in their fight to protect rhinos, whose horns are worth more than gold in parts of Southeast Asia.

Taking advantage of the fact that it is legal for foreigners to hunt rhinos in South Africa and ship horns overseas as trophies, Chumlong hired Thai prostitutes to stage fake hunts.

The women were given about US$800 each to fly to South Africa, visit game farms, take a few shots with small-calibre rifles and then pose next to rhinos killed by someone else, according to affidavits presented to the court.

"The hunters were a front for our decision to export rhino horn for trade and not for trophies," Chumlong told a Johannesburg court.

"I humbly apologise to the court and to the people of South Africa for my role in this matter," he said.

Prosecutors said Chumlong was a major player in a network that included private game reserve owners and a suspected animal parts kingpin in Laos who has built a booming business in rhino horn which sells for US$65,000 a kilogramme in Asia as medicine.

"The real significance of the guilty plea entered into is that this is the first time the state was able to arrest and prosecute one of the most senior people in an international smuggling syndicate of rhino horn," said Adrian Lackay, spokesman for the South African Revenue Service which investigated the case.

Between October 2010 and May 2011, Chumlong arranged licensed hunts where about two dozen rhinos were killed on the private game reserve of South African Marnus Steyl, according to court documents.

In 2011, Chumlong signed a deal with Steyl requesting horns from an additional 50 rhinos, with a street value of about US$20 million.

Prosecutors dropped charges against Steyl and other co-accused with the entry of Chumlong's guilty plea.

In the past few years a belief has grown in Southeast Asia - unfounded in science - that rhino horn can be used to prevent and cure cancer.

Increased demand meant poaching has hit record levels in South Africa where, by mid-October, 455 rhinos had been killed illegally - more than the 448 in 2011. Poaching grew a lot from 2007, as Asian demand for horns rocketed.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Thai prostitutes staged rhino hunts
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