South African Revenue Service (SARS) Customs teams at OR Tambo International Airport have stopped over 41kg of rhino horns from leaving the country.
The horns are valued at over R4.5-million.
The seizure of the contraband came as a result of specific, targeted profiling work.
On Friday, two foreign nationals travelling from Maputo to Vietnam via Johannesburg were intercepted in the International Departures section of the airport for additional searches.
SARS Detector Dog, Mimmo, who is specifically trained to identify rhino horn, reacted positively to the bags carried by both passengers.
In the bags, officials found at least 34 large pieces of horn.
One of the passengers was carrying 20.8 kilogrammes while the other was carrying 20.6 kilogrammes of rhino horn.
Both individuals and the rhino horns were handed over to the SAPS for further investigations.
The arrest and seizure was the biggest ever of rhino horn by the SARS Customs team at OR Tambo International.
