Bao, 52, in February appeared before the Bellville Magistrate’s Court while allegedly attempting to flee the country in connection with the theft and illegal export of 98 rhino horns in a staged robbery at Voi Game Lodge, according to a March 12 statement by South Africa’s Democratic Alliance.
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‘Diamond tycoon’ Chu Dang Khoa. Photo via Facebook |
In a related development, Khoa, 44, was also arrested. He is the owner of Voi Game Lodge and was previously fined and deported in 2011 for illegally possessing five rhino horns.
On March 12 Khoa appeared before the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court. Bail hearings for both men are expected to take place soon.
“The [South African] state will likely oppose bail due to them being considered flight risks,” the Democratic Alliance said.
The two were arrested by the Hawks, formally known as the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation – an elite police unit in South Africa tasked with investigating high-level organized crime, corruption and economic crimes.
In 2011, Khoa was convicted by a South African court for illegally possessing five rhino horns, fined ZAR40,000 (US$3,000), and deported.
In Vietnam, in January last year, Chu Thi Thanh, chairwoman of Thien Minh Duc Group – the mother of Khoa – along with six related individuals, was prosecuted on allegations of misappropriating a large amount from the gasoline price stabilization fund.
Khoa has been described as a “diamond tycoon” and “notorious playboy” for trafficking rhino horns, ivory and diamonds, with close ties to criminal networks in South Africa.
Suspicions linked to rhino killings
Bao had previously been wanted in connection with a large-scale rhino horn trafficking network, according to South Africa-based newspaper Daily Maverick.
Bao was arrested at Cape Town International Airport on Feb. 24 while preparing to board a flight to Singapore with his family.
The arrest warrant for Bao was issued after investigators determined he was linked to a case involving two Nigerian nationals found in possession of 17 rhino horns and 26.2 kg of lion and tiger bones at a storage facility in Kempton Park.
Bao managed the business interests of DKC Trading Company, owned by a Vietnamese enterprise in South Africa, including Voi Game Lodge and DKC Furniture, a trading company specializing in outdoor wooden furniture.
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Tran Huy Bao. Photo via Facebook/Ben Tran |
Voi Game Lodge is a farm in South Africa’s North West province that houses about 50 tigers and many rhinos. On Christmas night in 2025, five rhinos there were shot dead and had their horns removed.
The Democratic Alliance said that two seizures of large quantities of rhino horns at Changi Airport in Singapore are suspected to be linked to the rhino horn theft at the lodge. DNA evidence will be presented during the trial.
A former head of the Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Roets, said there was ample evidence to show that the majority of rhino horn thefts in South Africa “are all staged burglaries.”
He said that rhino horns are supposed to be kept in immovable, locked safes, rather than in cupboards, coffee containers, or hidden in ceilings.
Staged burglaries refer to rhino horns – which are stored legally in conservations – being reported stolen, even though in reality they are secretly sold to traffickers on the black market.
The DA said wildlife trafficking is not merely an environmental issue but part of a broader transnational organized crime network that also involves drugs and weapons, which fuels corruption, undermines the rule of law, and threatens South Africa’s security as well as its natural heritage.
South Africa remains home to the world’s largest rhino population, and protecting these animals is both a national responsibility and a global obligation.
