"Rhino Horns for Sale in San Francisco's Chinatown Despite Crackdown"

"California legislators aiming to pass more stringent regulations on the sale and dissemination of ivory and rhinoceros horns received a boost last Friday when a San Francisco man pleaded guilty to selling an undercover federal agent two black rhinoceros horns for $55,000. The art dealer Lumsden Quan and Mill Valley man Edward Levine will face sentencing in December.

But despite this guilty plea and the attempt at a crackdown, rhino horns and other illicit animal products remain on sale in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

At Wei’s spice shop, Tiffany, a Chinese-American attorney who has just finished law school, waits until the rush of customers subsides before turning to the owner to ask what other items are for sale in the back. This shop, she says, is where her friends have said rhino horn can be purchased."

Joseph Mayton reports for the Guardian August 24, 2015.