Rob @ RK Reptiles
ballpythonmorphs.net
Rich,
I know this probably does not belong here on the BOI but I wanted everyone to see it and this is the hardest hit site out there. You can follow the link to the original post of the story by the AP. Thanks.
Two Men Arrested in Orlando On Wildlife Smuggling Charges
POSTED: 7:54 a.m. EDT July 1, 2003
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two men from Southeast Asia have been charged with smuggling endangered wildlife to collectors in the United States, authorities said.
Lawrence Wee Soon Chye, a 37-year-old reptile dealer in Singapore, and Leong Tian Kum, a 33-year-old reptile dealer in Bangkok, were being held without bail in the Seminole County Jail until detention hearings Wednesday.
They were arrested Saturday at Orlando International Airport following a six-month investigation that started when a University of Central Florida student received two falsely labeled packages from Singapore.
Instead of books, the packages shipped overnight to Michael Barrera contained more than 200 rare turtles, tortoises and lizards, according to federal court records in Orlando.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife investigators discovered that Barrera, a business student at UCF, sold 4-inch turtles for up to $400 each over the Internet from his campus-area apartment.
Barrera, who has not been charge, told authorities about illegal shipments between himself and a dealer in Singapore. Barrera shipped king snakes, corn snakes, milk snakes, fat-tail geckos and leopard geckos to the dealer he knew as "Jon Morelia," according to court records.
Authorities in Singapore identified Morelia as an alias for Chye, charged with shipping Indian Star tortoises - protected under international wildlife treaties - and other creatures to collectors in South Florida, California and Washington.
A collector in California received an Emerald Tree monitor, a lizard that grows as long as 34 inches, and a yellow boa constrictor in a shipment labeled "micro-wave safe" plastic container samples. A collector in Washington began cooperating with investigators and told them Chye and Kum were flying from Bangkok to Orlando and arriving Saturday, according to court records.
Chye and Kum were arrested when they landed in Orlando.
Kum, known by the alias "Bobby Lee," was charged with money laundering and illegally importing endangered animals into Wisconsin. Authorities said he shipped Pancake tortoises from East Africa, Hermann's tortoises from the Mediterranean rim countries and Borneo Black Leaf turtles in boxes labeled as native crafts.
http://www.local6.com/news/2304179/detail.html
I know this probably does not belong here on the BOI but I wanted everyone to see it and this is the hardest hit site out there. You can follow the link to the original post of the story by the AP. Thanks.
Two Men Arrested in Orlando On Wildlife Smuggling Charges
POSTED: 7:54 a.m. EDT July 1, 2003
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two men from Southeast Asia have been charged with smuggling endangered wildlife to collectors in the United States, authorities said.
Lawrence Wee Soon Chye, a 37-year-old reptile dealer in Singapore, and Leong Tian Kum, a 33-year-old reptile dealer in Bangkok, were being held without bail in the Seminole County Jail until detention hearings Wednesday.
They were arrested Saturday at Orlando International Airport following a six-month investigation that started when a University of Central Florida student received two falsely labeled packages from Singapore.
Instead of books, the packages shipped overnight to Michael Barrera contained more than 200 rare turtles, tortoises and lizards, according to federal court records in Orlando.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife investigators discovered that Barrera, a business student at UCF, sold 4-inch turtles for up to $400 each over the Internet from his campus-area apartment.
Barrera, who has not been charge, told authorities about illegal shipments between himself and a dealer in Singapore. Barrera shipped king snakes, corn snakes, milk snakes, fat-tail geckos and leopard geckos to the dealer he knew as "Jon Morelia," according to court records.
Authorities in Singapore identified Morelia as an alias for Chye, charged with shipping Indian Star tortoises - protected under international wildlife treaties - and other creatures to collectors in South Florida, California and Washington.
A collector in California received an Emerald Tree monitor, a lizard that grows as long as 34 inches, and a yellow boa constrictor in a shipment labeled "micro-wave safe" plastic container samples. A collector in Washington began cooperating with investigators and told them Chye and Kum were flying from Bangkok to Orlando and arriving Saturday, according to court records.
Chye and Kum were arrested when they landed in Orlando.
Kum, known by the alias "Bobby Lee," was charged with money laundering and illegally importing endangered animals into Wisconsin. Authorities said he shipped Pancake tortoises from East Africa, Hermann's tortoises from the Mediterranean rim countries and Borneo Black Leaf turtles in boxes labeled as native crafts.
http://www.local6.com/news/2304179/detail.html
