PETALING JAYA: Malaysian wildlife smuggler Teo Boon Ching has received an 18-month jail sentence in the United States after being found guilty of trafficking hundreds of kilograms of rhinoceros horns worth millions of dollars.
The sentence was given by US district judge Paul A. Crotty on Tuesday (Sept 19).
The 58-year-old defendant had previously admitted to one count of conspiring to commit wildlife trafficking.
Teo, also known as “Zhang”, “Dato Sri” or “Godfather”, was extradited from Thailand to the United States in 2018, and becomes the sixth wildlife trafficker involved in large-scale cases to be sentenced by the office, stated Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement on Tuesday.
According to court documents and statements made in the case, Teo was part of a global criminal conspiracy that engaged in the large-scale smuggling and trafficking of rhinoceros horns to sell to foreign buyers, including those in Manhattan, New York.
Teo’s involvement included conspiring to transport, distribute, sell, and smuggle approximately 219kg of rhinoceros horns resulting from the poaching of numerous rhinoceros, with an estimated value of at least US$2.1 million (RM9.84 million), revealed the statement.
He had allegedly acted as a “middleman” and acquired rhinoceros horns poached by his accomplices in Africa, arranging for their shipment to customers worldwide in exchange for a per-kilogram fee.
Teo reportedly assured a confidential source, “As long as you have cash, I can deliver the goods within one to two days.”
Throughout their interactions, Teo forwarded several photographs of rhinoceros horns to the confidential source.
At the direction of law enforcement, the confidential source purchased 12 rhinoceros horns from Teo using funds believed to be proceeds from other illegal wildlife trafficking, which were held in bank accounts located in New York.
“These horns were then delivered in a suitcase in Thailand by individuals employed by the wildlife trafficking organization,” stated the release.
Subsequently, the rhinoceros horns were examined in a forensic laboratory, where it was determined that two pieces originated from black rhinoceroses, while the remaining ten pieces were sourced from white rhinoceroses.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
