Police arrested three foreign nationals with a rhino horn, 10 ivory balls and a lion’s tooth, outside Zevenwacht Mall, in Kuils River, last week.
Officers had pulled over a silver Mazda with heavily tinted windows during a routine patrol on Tuesday January 10, said police spokesman Captain FC Van Wyk.
The men, a Zambian and two Congolese, aged 27, 32 and 58 were held at Kuils River police station. They appeared at Kuils River Magistrate’s Court on Thursday January 12 on charges relating to the possession of rhino horn and ivory.
The arrests at the mall’s main gate drew a small crowd of shoppers and staff.
A mall employee told Northern News several police cars had been on the scene and the seized items had been laid out in the street and covered by a blanket.
“We asked a policeman what it was, and he said: ‘Rhino horns’.”
Asked to estimate the street value of the items, Captain Van Wyk said: “The case is now in court and this office cannot elaborate further on this matter.”