CHU DANG KHOA

Chu Dang Khoa, also known as Michael Chu or the “Diamond King” is a Vietnamese national and businessman who owns Voi Game Lodge in the North West Province in South Africa. Chu Dang Khoa is a serial miscreant who has, for decades, been linked to international criminal networks by South African law enforcement, local and international wildlife protection organisations and non-profit organisations. He has this week, once again, been accused of allegedly fuelling the illegal wildlife trade and the alleged trafficking of wildlife products.

The image of Chu Dang Khoa was taken twenty years ago in 2006 at Voi Lodge. This was the firstlegal hunt of a rhino by a Vietnamese national recorded in Limpopo province, according to a 2016 Global Initiative Transnational Crime Report entitled Rhino Tipping Point. Hunting records identify the professional hunter who accompanied them as Frikkie Jacobs from Shingalana Game Breeders and Hunting Safaris. Jacobs allegedly conducted 48 hunts with suspected Vietnamese pseudo-hunters between June 2009 and July 2011 according to North West province records.

Chu Dang Khoa Arrested in South Africa 11th March 2026

Twenty year after the photograph above was taken, on the 12^th March 2026 it was reported by the South African government that Chu Dang Khoa would appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate Court on charges of the contravention of the National Environmental Management and Biodiversity Act. He had been arrested on the 11^th March 2026 in Heidelberg during the execution of an authorised search and seizure warrant and a warrant of arrest.

The warrants were executed in Centurion and Heidelberg on the 11^th March respectively, as part of an intelligence-driven operation carried out by the members of Serious Organised Crime Investigation’s Wildlife Trafficking Section of the Hawks. The members were assisted by the Tactical Operations Management Section, the Pretoria K9 unit, SAPS Head Office Modus Operandi Centre at head office and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

Vietnam Hail the Chu Dang Khoa Arrest as Major Breakthrough

Education for Nature is Vietnam’s first non-for-profit organisation focused on wildlife conservation who have spearheaded efforts to end Vietnam’s illegal wildlife trade made a public statement on the 12^th March 2026.

“ENV applauds the South African police for this significant victory. Justice has been served after a long wait,” said Ms. Bui Thi Ha, ENV Director of Policy and Legislation. “This is truly a monumental step in the global fight against transnational organized crime.

Chu Dang Khoa has long been identified as a shadowy figure deeply embedded in the illegal rhino horn and tiger bone trade. Through his South African enterprise, DKC Trading Company, Khoa owns Voi Game Lodge in the North West Province. The facility, which holds captive tigers and rhinos, has been linked to rhino horn and lion bone trafficking, as well as the export of tiger bones to Asian black markets.

Khoa had reportedly been in South Africa since late 2023, fleeing his home country after his mother was arrested on charges of asset embezzlement and illegal trading of financial documents in Vietnam. Most recently, investigators issued a warrant for Khoa after linking his network to a “staged” armed robbery of 98 rhino horns allegedly taken from Voi Game Lodge, and the subsequent trafficking of these horns.

EMS Foundation: Where Have All the Rhinos Gone? 2021

Chu Dang Khoa, also known as Michael Chu featured prominently in a 2021 report, Where Have All the Rhinos Gone,published by EMS Foundation.

The wealthy Vietnamese businessman registered a company in South Africa in 2005. According to the Rhino Tipping Point report, an excerpt of which was published in the Financial Mail on the 15 July 2016. Chu dang Khoa emerged as akey player in a company that was supplying wild animals from Voi Lodge to Vinpearl Safari Park, situated on the Vietnamese island in the Gulf of Thailand.

Of concern, is that the same report states that the South African Department of Environmental Affairs issued permits toexport 130 animals to Vinpearl Safaris or Phu Quoc Tourism Development between September 2015 and February 2016.This allegedly included 20 tigers, 23 lions, 12 monkeys and two hyenas.

EMS Foundation: The Extinction Business: South Africa’s Captive Lion Industry 2018

The Extinction Business: South Africa’s Lion Bone Trade, is a comprehensive report published eight years ago by the EMS Foundation and Ban Animal Trading in 2018. This Report exposed how the commercial captive lion industry in South Africa fuels illegal trafficking of wildlife products and links to criminal networks.

The investigation highlighted that the legal trade permitted by CITES launders tiger and lion bones into Asian markets, prompting global calls for a zero-export quota and the closure of the big cat breeding industry in South Africa.

The Report confirmed that Asian criminals cannot succeed without the participation and facilitation of private ranchowners, ‘professional’ hunters, and outfitters in South Africa. In South Africa the private big cat breeding industry certainly does not equate to conservation or wildlife protection

Is South Africa Losing the Fight Against Organised Crime?

National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi told South Africa’s Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations of criminal infiltration and political interference in the South African Police Service that South Africa is losing the fight against organized crime, describing it as a “slow-motion takeover. She highlighted concerted efforts to compromise prosecutors and confirmed receiving intelligence regarding corrupt officials within the National Prosecuting Authority.

Batohi stated that criminals have infiltrated key, high-level positions within the criminal justice system, including the South African Police Services and the National Prosecuting Authority. She confirmed receiving intelligence indicating that prosecutors are being targeted by criminal syndicates. While acknowledging the need for better performance, she highlighted the immense difficulty of prosecuting high-profile cases. Although some committee members criticized her, with some calling her approach a “dereliction of duty” for not naming specific corrupt prosecutors during the testimony, despite her citing ongoing investigations, security analysts and observers noted that the testimony confirms that the criminal justice system is heavily compromised, putting the rule of law at risk.

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IMAGE SOURCE:

Michael Chu an alias, for Chu Dang Khoa. Image source: https://www.businesslive.co.za/fm/fm-fox/2016-07-15-the-crooks-behind-rhino-slaughter/