Hanoi --ndash; Customs officers in Vietnam have seized 55 rhino horns weighing 125 kilograms that were hidden inside plaster statues at Hanoi's Noi Bai Aiport, state media reported Monday.

The horns were delivered in 14 separate shipments that were registered as being exempt from customs inspections, but suspicious officials decided to check them anyway, Viet Nam News reported, quoting customs officials.

Authorities broke open the plaster statues on Thursday to uncover the horns inside, according to the report.

No arrests were made as the shipments could not be traced back to anybody.

Vietnam is one of the world’s biggest consumers of rhino horn worldwide. Some believe it has important medicinal and aphrodisiac properties, and it is seen as a status symbol.

On Tuesday, Hanoi police arrested three men after seven tiger carcasses were discovered while being transported in Hanoi.

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