South Africa Gives rhino poacher 40 Year Jail Term

Afrik Update

                                     Lemtongthai was detained in Johannesburg after a year-long investigation
                                                                          

A Thai man has been jailed for 40 years by a court in South Africa for organising illegal rhino poaching expeditions, local media say.

Chumlong Lemtongthai had been described by officials as a "leading figure" in international rhino poaching.

He pleaded guilty to paying prostitutes to go on fake hunts to harvest rhino horns for smuggling.

Wildlife protection campaigners say the demand for rhino horn is driven by its use in traditional medicine in Asia.

In Vietnam many believe that ground rhino horn can be used to cure cancer - although there is no scientific evidence for this - and horns taken to the the Middle East are used to make handles for ornamental daggers.

Magistrate Prince Manyathi ruled that Chumlong Lemtongthai had shown no remorse for his crimes, the South African news website Eyewitness News reported.

"The guilty plea does not necessarily imply anything more than that the accused is realistic," Mr Manyathi is quoted as saying.