Australian police bust reptile smuggling plot, saving native lizards, snakes from Hong Kong’s live animal trade
- Each lizard could fetch US$3,360 on the black market; total haul valued at US$8 million, according to police
- The World Wildlife Fund says Hong Kong is a major global transit point for the illegal trade in live animals
This picture released by the New South Wales police shows a box of reptiles confiscated by the police in Sydney. Photo: AFPAn Australian-based criminal syndicate plotted to smuggle hundreds of native reptiles into Hong Kong as part of a murky trade in live animals, police alleged Monday.
Detectives began investigating the network in September last year, after intercepting nine packages bound for Hong Kong with 59 live lizards stashed inside.
They allegedly discovered more than 250 lizards after searching a number of properties scattered across Sydney, as well as a small number of snakes and unhatched eggs.
Water monitor lizard ‘Aberdeen’ found in Hong Kong after missing for nearly a fortnight
Police said the captured reptiles were “kept in poor conditions” before they were “bound in small containers” to be sold in Hong Kong.
Photos taken by police showed writhing lizards piled on top of each other in small plastic bins filled with soiled pellets.
Another photo showed a snake curling around a clutch of eggs in a clear plastic tub packed with wood chips.
Each lizard could fetch as much as Aus$5,000 (US$3,360) on the black market, police said, giving the total seized haul a street value of as much as Aus$1.2 million (US$8 million)
Police have charged three men allegedly involved in the “criminal syndicate” – aged 59, 54, and 31 – as well as a 41-year-old woman.
Hong Kong is a major global transit point for the illegal trade in live animals, according to the World Wildlife Fund.