--- title: "Wildlife trafficking net widens — Hawks nab a fifth suspect on World Rhino Day" description: "The staged rhino horn heist complainant who opened an allegedly false armed robbery case last year, has finally been arrested and unmasked" type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "HORN HEIST ARREST" author: "Simon Bloch" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/simon-bloch/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-24-wildlife-trafficking-net-widens-hawks-nab-a-fifth-suspect-on-world-rhino-day/" published: "2026-09-24T21:53:44" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 1467 --- # Wildlife trafficking net widens — Hawks nab a fifth suspect on World Rhino Day > The staged rhino horn heist complainant who opened an allegedly false armed robbery case last year, has finally been arrested and unmasked By Simon Bloch · Published 24 September 2026, 23:53 SAST ## Key points - On World Rhino Day, the Hawks arrested Voi game lodge manager Nguyen Huu Dong as the fifth suspect in the alleged theft of 98 rhino horns. - Investigators say Dong staged an armed robbery and filed a false complaint to conceal the horns’ diversion into the black market. - The case widened after Singapore seizures exposed shipments of rhino horn, tiger carcasses and lion bones allegedly linked to the syndicate. - Dong, cousin of alleged kingpin Chu Dang Khoa, also faces scrutiny over Voi Lodge’s long record of wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty allegations. ## Content A key figure alleged to be behind one of the most audacious wildlife trafficking cover-ups in recent South African history has been arrested. [AGE OF ACCOUNTABILITY Hawks investigate ‘theft’ of 98 rhino horns December 10, 2025 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/_8gr9z3R-z5ENgIQubhNWyZr1XU=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/image15_589500.jpg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-12-10-hawks-investigate-theft-of-98-rhino-horns/) In a poetic twist of timing on World Rhino Day (Tuesday, 22 September 2026), members of the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Wildlife Trafficking Unit pounced on Nguyen Huu Dong (30) and arrested him in Klerksdorp. A Vietnamese national and manager at the infamous foreign-owned Voi game lodge, Huu Dong, aka Daniel, made a brief appearance before the Kempton Park Magistrates’ Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday, 23 September, and will officially join the four other heist suspects in the dock on Monday, 28 September, as accused number five. Nigerians Tunji Olanrewaju Koyi and Koyode Adukunle Ongundele are accused one and two, were arrested last year, while two other Vietnamese nationals, Huy Bao Tran, aka Ben Tran, accused three, and alleged transnational wildlife trafficking syndicate mastermind Chu Dang Khoa, aka Michael Chu, accused four, were arrested earlier this year and are on bail of R200,000 each. [WEB OF DEVASTATION The rhino horn heist that exposed Vietnam’s shadowy passport machine and rot at Home Affairs March 26, 2026 ![Image](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/cJSN1A6BiIdXJmPkTWvhugvWWGk=/450x0/smart/file/attachments/orphans/AccusedinternationalrhinohorntraffickingkingpinChuDangKhoarightandhisallegedassociateandenforcerHuyBaoTranattheirbailapplicationlastFriday_301144.jpeg)](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-03-26-the-rhino-horn-heist-that-exposed-vietnams-shadowy-passport-machine-and-rot-at-home-affairs/) Dong is facing serious charges of attempted robbery, defeating the ends of justice and perjury. The court ordered Dong remanded in custody until Monday, 28 September 2026, for a scheduled bail application. According to a senior Hawks officer, “other charges will follow in due course”. Dong’s arrest is regarded as a significant breakthrough, however, possibly exposing the inner workings of the Chu wildlife crime network. ![rhino horns](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/kp2Wg0dkq4zJ_vqj1qKJyJPsWSE=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Georgie-poachingpoverty-6.jpeg) *Investigations have shown that Vietnamese networks have shifted from small-scale trafficking to smuggling large volumes of wildlife products, including rhino horns and lion bones. (Photo: Zaheer Ali)* ### The frantic complaint and a ‘packet of lies’ When Dong summoned the police to the Hartebeesfontein game lodge in December 2025 to file a frantic complaint, little did he know that call would lead to this. According to the Hawks, Dong claimed a gang of heavily armed robbers had stormed the lodge in the early hours of the morning on 8 December 2025, tied him up and made off with a massive, multimillion-rand stockpile of 98 rhino horns, R50,000 in cash and two cellphones. The Hawks are saying that they have now officially established that it was completely calculated and staged. Instead of being the victim of a brazen heist, investigators allege that Dong used his position as lodge manager to spin a web of lies. The entire “armed robbery” was allegedly fabricated, a staged “smokescreen” designed to mask the quiet, illicit siphoning and sale of the 98 horns into the black market. By filing what could be a false police report, Dong didn’t just break the law – he actively weaponised the South African Police Service (SAPS) to cover his tracks. ### The Singapore pipeline On 8 November 2025, 30 days before Dong frantically called the cops and cried foul, 20 of the “missing” 98 horns and 150kg of what investigators believed to be tiger carcasses and lion bones had been intercepted and seized at Singapore’s Changi International Airport. Three weeks later, a second shipment of 17 horns and 26kg of predator bones and skulls that originated in South Africa and consigned to Vientiane, Laos PDR (People’s Democratic Republic), was also discovered and held at Changi, a full week before Dong reported the alleged armed robbery. ![Rhino horn high-speed pursuit, SAPS Endangered Species Unit, 2017.](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/bwdB1BXZZlbwDqWUVr0kFGQg3rI=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/OD-Simon-KrugerPoach2.jpg) *Rhino horn that was tossed out of a bakkie’s window while it was being chased at high speed by members of the SAPS Endangered Species Unit in 2017. (Photo: Supplied)* This contraband shipment was secretly re-routed back to the senders in Johannesburg via a controlled delivery, where members of the Hawks’ Endangered Species Section and Border Management Authority nabbed the two Nigerians, Koyi and Ongundele. The recovered rhino horns and bones have since been forensically analysed and held as state evidence. ### Timing While conservationists celebrate the breakthrough, the timing of Dong’s arrest seems to have raised eyebrows across the justice sector. For reasons yet to be fully explained, the Hawks waited almost a year to finally put the cuffs on Dong, despite some evidence of his central role. ### Deep roots in the syndicate Dong is not just some rogue game lodge manager; he is the first cousin of Chu Dang Khoa, aka Michael Chu, kingpin of a vast Vietnamese wildlife trafficking syndicate operating not only out of South Africa, but also out of Mozambique, and several central and West African countries where the smuggling pipelines traverse into Southeast Asia. ![Michael Chu wildlife trafficking](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/YLM99K9Ouw2rL2QGkkLNhAtPFiQ=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Bloch-Ben-Tran_600079.jpg) *Voi Lodge and DKC Trading owner Chu Dang Khoa (right), aka Michael Chu, the ‘Diamond tycoon’, is linked to the international wildlife trafficking networks in South Africa, Vietnam and Southeast Asia. (Photo: Facebook)* This is not Dong’s first brush with the law, and South Africa’s wildlife authorities either. For more than a decade, Voi Lodge has acted as a highly scrutinised stronghold for this syndicate’s operations. In November 2019, shortly after arriving in South Africa, Dong and another Vietnamese national, Chu Duc Thang, were arrested during a massive Hawks raid at Voi Game Lodge, which exposed the property’s ties to global smuggling routes. ![seized rhino horns](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/ttSFguLv5S_ryU6IBUK28QZ6VNo=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/Simon-rhino1_571710.jpg) *One hundred rhino horns were seized by the Hawks after a raid at Voi Lodge in 2019. (Photo: SAPS)* One hundred rhino horns, four frozen tiger carcasses, tiger skins, several illegally owned and unlicensed firearms, several boxes of live ammunition, nearly $8,000 as well as about [R45,000](https://www.google.com/maps/search/R45+000?entry=gmail&source=g) in South African notes were seized, according to a police statement. - As many as 50 live tigers and about 10 lions were also reported to have been found in fenced enclosures at Voi Lodge. (Today, there are believed to be as many as 90 tigers, although the numbers are said to fluctuate.) - Nguyen Huu Dong and Thang were charged with the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and contravention of the National Environment Management-Biodiversity Act. Concerning the 100 rhino horns seized during that raid, they were returned to the farm after forensic analysis, and Huy Bao Tran, Chu Dang Khoa’s main operative in South Africa, paid a small fine for permit violations. ### Animal cruelty Beyond trafficking, Dong has also been the primary target of multiple animal cruelty investigations launched by the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA), highlighting a grim history of animal cruelty and exploitation under him at Voi. In March 2025, after a gruesome follow-up inspection of a critically wounded tiger at Voi lodge, the NSPCA released a scathing report titled, [NSPCA finds shocking cruelty at notorious predator facility](https://nspca.co.za/nspca-finds-shocking-cruelty-at-notorious-predator-facility/). The report details a follow-up inspection which was prompted by a previous incident at Voi Game Lodge, where a tiger – one of 81 kept at the site at the time – was mauled by another tiger three weeks previously, sustaining injuries to its torso, throat, and neck. The NSPCA had initially visited the facility to assess the conditions and returned to ensure that the injured animal had received adequate veterinary care. What they found instead was beyond disturbing. The wounded tiger had resorted to self-mutilation. She had gnawed, licked, and scratched at her front paws to the extent that she had exposed her bones and tendons. Her nails had been entirely worn away – save for one – leaving raw, penetrating bone clearly visible. The animal was unable to walk properly and was seen struggling even when food was placed before her. ### ‘That’s money’ “With no viable alternatives due to the extent of her injuries and suffering, the NSPCA had no choice but to humanely euthanise the tiger. However, when our Wildlife Protection Unit attempted to remove the carcass for veterinary examination, the owner refused – callously stating, “That’s money”. (A witness confirmed to Daily Maverick that Dong was the person who refused to let the SPCA remove the carcass. Dong is in fact not the owner, but the manager responsible for operations at Voi at the time.) The NSPCA’s inspectors were then prevented from leaving the enclosure where they had worked, as the owner refused to open the gates. Prioritising the safety of its staff, the NSPCA was forced to leave the carcass behind. “The NSPCA is compiling a docket and will be prosecuting this case to the fullest extent of the law. We will not stand by while animals endure unimaginable suffering at the hands of profit-driven breeders” ### A long-awaited victory Was it just a coincidence that investigators chose the ultimate symbolic moment to strike back? Dr Andrew Muir, CEO of Wilderness Foundation Africa, told Daily Maverick, “Thorough prosecutions and making cases that stick are more important than trying to speed these processes up, particularly where the evidence against these individuals is overwhelming. Dong will now spend the long weekend behind bars, preparing to appear in court alongside his co-accused on 28 September 2o26. **DM**