A Kenyan police officer and two others were on Monday arrested with 600 kilogrammes of rhino horns, Daily Nation reports.

One kilogram of rhino horn can go for more than 50,000 euros ($53,000) on the black market, according to Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW). A rhino horn which weighs an average of 1 – 3 kg, fetches up to $100,000/kg in Vietnam.

Corporal Henry Mokua Onsongo, Eliud Wanyonyi Wafubwa and Congolese, Richard Ngeleka Kalatanda were arrested at a Nairobi hotel by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers after Chief Inspector Charles Inoti from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and two KWS officers found them, according to a statement.

The three suspects who were arraigned in court on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession of rhino horns. They have been remanded pending a review of bond terms application.

Illegal wildlife trade and environmental crime is estimated by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to be worth $70 – $213 billion annually, which is comparable to a global official development assistance envelope of about $135 billion per annum.

Rising global demand for ivory has caused a poaching crisis in recent years across Kenya and Africa as a whole. Conversationists believe over 1,000 rhinos have been killed on the continent in the past two years. The KWS has therefore enhanced surveillance at all Kenya’s entry exit and entry points. Last month, an employee of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) — an active, regional peacekeeping mission operated by the African Union with the approval of the United Nations in Somalia — Lydie Kayetsi, was fined Sh1 million by a Nairobi court for wearing ivory bangles.