MY - hub for multi billion ringgit illegal wildlife trade

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Monday August 10, 2009 - Star Probe

Malaysia is a hub for a multi-billion-ringgit global trade in illegal

wildlife

 

KUALA LUMPUR: A former wildlife smuggler has, in a rare interview, talked

about his arrest for the illegal trafficking of animals following a sting

operation set up by the US authorities.

 

Nicknamed the “Pablo Escobar of the wildlife trade” after the Colombian drug

lord, Penangite Anson Wong Keng Lian was convicted of trafficking in

highly-endangered species by the US government in 2001 after a three-year

probe by its Fish and Wildlife Services.

 

He was sentenced to 71 months in jail.

 

Wong’s illicit operations then was part of the worldwide illegal wildlife

trade that Interpol estimated to be worth billions of dollars a year.

 

The smuggling of wildlife and animal parts is so lucrative that it is second

only to drug trafficking.

Convicted wildlife smuggler Anson Wong, dubbed the ‘Pablo Escobar of

wildlife trafficking’, says he paid for his greed

 

> Interpol estimates that illegal wildlife trade worldwide is worth

US$10bil (RM35bil) to US$20bil (RM70bil) a year.

 

> Consignments of live animals and body parts worth millions of ringgit have

slipped through Malaysia undetected.

 

> Malaysia’s porous borders and unguarded shorelines make the country an

ideal transit point for wildlife smuggling.

 

> Animal traffickers are not deterred by low fines and short jail terms.

 

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Illegal animal trading puts Malaysia on the world map for all the wrong

reasons By HILARY CHIEW

 

*KUALA LUMPUR:* In 2006, Taiwanese authorities seized a three-tonne shipment

of ivory from Tanzania worth RM25mil that had transited Penang port.

 

An Indian national who was caught with an illegal consignment of Indian star

tortoises at the KL International Airport in 2007 said he was paid to bring

it into the country for a Malaysian buyer.

 

In the second half of 2008, 167 pangolins were seized in four enforcement

cases in Muar, indicating that the coastline was a thriving entry point for

the anteaters from Indonesia. It is believed that the pangolins were

destined for the restaurant and traditional medicine trade, as well as the

mainland Chinese market.

 

Early this year, genetic fingerprinting of seized tiger parts in southern

Thailand shows that the Malaya tiger, endemic to Malaysia and numbering only

500 in the wild, have been blatantly poached and smuggled through our land

borders.

 

These are some of the cases that point to illegal trafficking of wildlife

and its parts, and to Malaysia being a transit point, a source country, as

well as a consumer hub for endangered wildlife.

 

Globally, Interpol estimated the illegal trade to be worth US$10bil

(RM35bil) to US$20bil (RM70bil) a year. Conservation groups like the World

Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) have declared wildlife trade the second biggest

direct threat to species survival, after habitat destruction.

 

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) did not respond

to requests for the value of animals confiscated last year, but a

conservative estimate based on media reports shows that at least RM5mil

worth of wildlife was seized in Malaysia last year.

 

Wildlife trafficking is a trade so lucrative that it is said to rank second

after drug trafficking, especially when there is no death penalty to fear in

most countries.

 

Take the pangolin, for instance. According to wildlife trade researchers the

creature’s scales and meat are sought after for its purported properties to

alleviate rheumatic pains. And as an aphrodisiac too of course, as any

purveyor of exotic meat would sell you the idea. That is why pangolins can

fetch as much as RM150 per kg or RM500 per animal in the black market.

 

Traffic, a wildlife trade-monitoring network, fears that the illegal trade

in pangolins is already out of control with large shipments of animals being

smuggled across numerous international borders, often by the lorry load, to

their final destination in China.

 

It says that shipments busted by Perhilitan are merely the tip of the

proverbial iceberg. What slips through the net are far more than one can

estimate, in the millions of ringgit over the years.

 

The rampant smuggling of pangolins has forced Perhilitan to acknowledge that

Malaysia has become both an attractive supply and transit country.

 

Its deputy enforcement director Celescoriano Razond said he feared that

international syndicates had turned the country into their main source – not

just for pangolin but other wildlife species too.

 

There have been numerous confiscations of Indian star tortoises at the KLIA

with arrests of Indian and Malaysian nationals, yet the smugglers are

undeterred. The shipments still come in and the authorities have no other

choice but to maintain constant vigilance.

 

Until recently, the Indian star tortoise from the Indian sub-continent that

was banned from export was easily available in local pet shops. The

palm-sized exotic pet with star-like markings on its shell was sold at

between RM100 and RM150 per creature.

 

In cases where the illegal shipments of Indian star tortoises were foiled,

the authorities have found suitcases packed with the animal, some up to

2,000 pieces in one suitcase.

 

Perhilitan returns seized consignments to the country of origin but the

syndicates involved remain at large.

 

Existing laws and inadequate manpower remain the biggest setbacks in

tackling this scourge. The Wildlife Protection Act 1972 offers no protection

for any turtle or tortoise species. A revised law, scheduled to be tabled in

Parliament this year, is supposed to plug this particular loophole. However,

a check on the draft bill showed that this reptile family is still being

left out.

 

Azrina Abdullah, the immediate ex-director of Traffic, lamented the low

fines and reluctance of the courts to put the culprits behind bars. In 2006,

conservationists were appalled that a RM7,000 fine (maximum fine is

RM15,000) was slapped on a poacher from Tumpat, in Kelantan, for possessing

a chopped up tiger in his fridge, instead of the maximum five-year

imprisonment. The black market value of a tiger is reported to be US$50,000

(RM180,000).

 

Currently, fines range from RM1,000 to RM15,000 and imprisonment from a

minimum of one year to 10 years. The authorities have indicated a 100%

increase in fines and a maximum jail term of 12 years in the pending new

law.

 

Among the issues that need to be addressed is the issuance of special

permits by Perhilitan to theme parks, private zoos and individuals for

keeping an animal. There is fear that permits given would provide the

holders a cover to launder illegal specimens.

 

At the regional level, a lack of law enforcement and poor investigation are

obstacles to efforts in stemming this exploitation of biodiversity of a

country and its neighbours.

 

Recognising that no country can fight this scourge on its own, governments

in the region formed in 2005 a regional anti-wildlife trafficking network

aimed at sharing intelligence and improving regional enforcement

collaboration.

 

The 10-member Asean – Wildlife Enforce­ment Network (Asean-WEN) is the

world’s largest entity of its kind. Despite the heightened awareness among

law enforcers and seemingly higher number of seizures, it remains unclear if

the network has managed to cripple the syndicates or apprehend the

masterminds behind this hideous crime against nature.

 

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Coming clean By HILARY CHIEW

 

*GEORGE TOWN:* A mix of residential and commercial units flank Jones Road in

downtown Penang. One block of double-storey commercial units contains an

interior design outlet, a furniture gallery and a shoplot that has its

aluminium shutters perennially semi-open.

 

These three enjoined units served as the operations centre of one of the

world’s largest wildlife trafficking syndicates in the 1990s. The man behind

the operation then was Anson Wong Keng Liang, who was eventually convicted

in the United States.

 

Dubbed the “Pablo Escobar of the wildlife trade” and “Asian wildlife

kingpin” by the American authorities, Wong began his foray into the wildlife

trade by exhibiting reptiles at the now-defunct Bukit Jambul Reptile

Sanctuary, a registered company jointly owned by Wong and his wife.

 

From the early 1990s, Jones Road was the operating address for a host of

companies linked to Wong, among them Sg Rusa Wildlife, CBS Wildlife, and air

cargo operator Aerofleet.

 

Wong was found guilty by the US Government in 2001 for trafficking in highly

endangered species, especially rare reptiles, following a three-year

investigation by the US Fish and Wildife Services into his international

smuggling racket.

 

Codenamed Operation Chameleon, undercover agents infiltrated Wong’s network

which imported and exported more than 300 protected species via Penang by

concealing them in express delivery packages, airline baggage, and large

commercial shipments of legally declared animals.

 

In 1998, the Penangite was lured to Mexico to seal a deal with an agent who

posed as a buyer. He was arrested but fought a US order for his extradition

for two years. He failed in the end and was prosecuted in the United States

alongside seven other business associates and handed a 71-month jail term

and fined US$60,000.

 

The cat-and-mouse game of Wong’s operations was detailed in *The Lizard King

*by Bryan Christy, which renewed public interest in this otherwise forgotten

episode when the book was released last September. The American

lawyer-turned-author was in Kuala Lumpur and Penang early this year to

promote his book.

 

After his release from jail, Wong shunned requests for interviews from the

media. The most viewed image of Wong was a grainy picture released by the US

Department of Justice showing him in a white T-shirt, with short hair and

wearing glasses.

 

Today, Wong is back in Penang where he lives with his wife, and son and

daughter* *in their 20s, and is operating an air-cargo delivery business

from the same premises in Jones Road.

 

In an interview with *Starprobe*, Wong spoke about life in US prison and

gave his views on the wildlife trade, and stressed that he has remained

“clean” since his return to Malaysia in 2004.

 

*Tell us about the US Fish and Wild­life Services sting.*

 

When I saw George Morrison (at the airport in Mexico City) I had this “game

over” feeling. (Morrison was undercover agent “Karl Hart” who set up the

shell company PacRim based in San Francisco.) The first thing that came to

my mind was my son. I could do 100 years in prison. We adults have to pay

for what we did but it’s the hurt ... I couldn’t bring myself to call home,

I was ashamed.

 

Then a Malaysian Embassy official informed me that it was all over the

papers and I should make that call. He gave me a 100 peso call card. By the

time my son got to the phone, the line was disconnected. That really hurt.

 

*You have been labelled the Pablo Escobar (Colombian drug lord) of wildlife

trafficking.*

 

The reports painted me as a monster. I’m no Pablo Escobar. Do you know what

he was like? I’m just like any other guy; I just got a bit greedy.

 

*How did you earn your parole? *

 

I told them what they wanted to hear. They bought my story – hook, line and

sinker. I was not obliged to tell them the truth. In this business, you

can’t reveal your network. You’d be done in if you did.

 

*Do you have any connection to the proposed tiger park initiated by the

Penang Government?*

 

I’m not involved. Whatever the public and NGOs said is not true. They are

just speculating. I wish they will spend their resources on more blatant

trafficking cases out there than paying attention to me. But sure, that

operation will likely serve as a tiger farm.

 

*You’re saying that you’re absolutely clean now?*

 

I don’t want to go to jail again. I had difficulties sleeping in the cell. I

saw gang fights, rape. Do you think I want to live through that again?

 

*So what were you doing in Tan­zania? (At the beginning of this interview,

Wong showed a photograph dated Nov 2008 of a ploughshare tortoise in his

hand. He expressed concern that the highly-priced Madagascar tortoise is

targetted by Chinese traffickers for its meat.) *

 

Oh ... just visiting. There’s this famous place in Zanzibar ... it’s just

not right to eat this tortoise.

 

*What about allegations that you are protected by a high-ranking officer in

Perhilitan (Department of Wildlife and National Park)?*

 

That’s rubbish. I said it before and I will say it again, (that officer) is

the most diligent wildlife officer I have dealt with.

 

*There is talk that you benefitted from auctions of confiscated shipments

due to this connection with the officer.*

 

There’s no truth in it. There was one (confiscated) shipment of monitor

lizards and I pleaded with (the officer to let me have it) but the officer

declined and sent them all to the Malacca Zoo. Anyway, these auction stories

are ancient.

 

*What do you think of the book **The Lizard King**?*

 

He (Bryan Christy) wrote it as though he had spoken with me at length. In

reality, he only met me for less than 15 minutes at my office. I did offer

him a lift but he declined.

 

*There was suspicion you were the intended recipient of a ploughshare and

radiated tortoise consignment in October 2007 that was intercepted by

Customs at the KLIA, as well as the Indian star tortoises seized in the last

few years.*

 

That’s interesting. I’m really intrigued by whoever is using my name. I’m

curious how they managed to smuggle so many tortoises.

 

*If you’re not involved, why would your name surface?*

 

I think my name carries weight. They know that I keep my word. I don’t blame

these people. They always link (trafficking) to me. I’m used to it now.

Whatever I say could be used against me.

 

*How many special permits (to keep totally protected species under the

Wildlife Protect­ion Act 1972) do you hold?*

 

My staff will know. I don’t handle it myself.

 

*Do you feel any guilt that your activities (in the past) had contributed to

extinction of endangered species?*

 

I tend to look at it differently. Everyone is contributing to species

extinction. If you sit in an air-conditioned restaurant like now ... (you

are contributing to global warming and in turn species extinction). With

deforestation, habitats are lost and species go extinct. Endangered is

relative. I still trade in wildlife – legally – and that’s the only thing I

do. But the quantity is not there anymore nor are there any (big) buyers.

 

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Answers from the Wildlife department:

Tuesday August 11, 2009 Perhilitan D-G: Illegal trading in wildlife ‘an old

story’ By YENG AI CHUN

 

PETALING JAYA: The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) is

keeping mum over allegations that Malaysia is a major wildlife trafficking

centre.

 

Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Rasid Samsudin had replied: “it is

an old story” when asked to comment on the Starprobe story yesterday

alleging that illegal trading in wildlife had put Malaysia on the world map

for the wrong reasons.

 

When pointed out that the problem was still going on and the number of cases

were getting higher, Abdul Rasid said: “I cannot comment on that.”

 

However, Abdul Rasid said the department has established an inter-agency

cooperation relationship with the Customs, police and army to curb wildlife

smuggling.

 

When asked what happened to confiscated shipments now, he replied Perhilitan

returned seized consignments to the country of origin, or release the

animals back into the wild. The seized carcasses were disposed.

 

As for allegation that Anson Wong had benefited from auctions of confiscated

shipments due to his connection to a high ranking officer in the department,

Abdul Rasid said this was a “story from the past”.

 

Wong was convicted of wildlife smuggling and jailed 71 months in United

States. He now resides in Penang.

 

He also refuted allegations that special permits by Perhilitan issued to

theme parks, private zoos and individuals for keeping animals had been used

to cover smuggling activities.

 

The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said it would issue a

statement on the matter today.

 

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Wednesday August 12, 2009 Tell us about the tigers, says exco man By HILARY

CHIEW

 

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Government wants the Department of Wildlife and

National Parks (Perhilitan) to reveal details of the special permit and

licences it issued to convicted wildlife trafficker Anson Wong for his two

tigers.

 

Wong’s two Bengal tigers were previously kept at the Bukit Jambul Hibiscus,

Orchids and Reptile Farm but have been moved to a private location near the

Teluk Bahang Forest Reserve.

 

They will eventually be housed in a reptile garden in the forest reserve.

 

State exco member Phee Boon Poh said that since tigers were a protected

species, the state government wanted to know how the tigers came about.

 

“We want to know the origin of Wong’s tigers as they will eventually be

placed at the reptile garden which is a state project,” he said.

 

Phee said Wong had claimed he had authorisation to transfer the tigers,

which were moved on July 29, and criticised Perhilitan for its lack of

supervision during the relocation.

 

Wong, dubbed the “Pablo Escobar of the wildlife trade” after the Colombian

drug lord, was convicted of trafficking in highly endangered species by the

US government in 2001 and sentenced to 71 months in jail.

 

He spoke exclusively to *Starprobe* detailing his involvement in the trade.

 

He was released on parole in 2004, and the 51-year-old businessman now runs

an air cargo delivery service in Penang.

 

Many conservation groups have questioned how Wong acquired his tigers, a

totally protected species in the country that has been banned from

international trade since 1975.

 

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has stressed that the tiger park project

in Relau proposed by the current Pakatan state government has no link to

Wong.

 

Meanwhile, Nik Naizi Husin reports Deputy Natural Resources and Environment

Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup as saying that the Government would never

tolerate the trafficking of wildlife.

 

He said the Government was in the process of amending the present Wildlife

Act and this would allow more stringent action against traffickers.

 

“The amendment process would take time and currently its draft is in the

Attorney-General’s office,” he said after launching the Rakan Alam Sekitar

programme for Maran Parliamentary Constituency here yesterday.

 

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Thursday August 13, 2009 Ministry to review Wong’s special permits

 

PETALING JAYA: The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will review

former wildlife trafficker Anson Wong’s special permits and licences, and

probe allegations that a high-ranking officer has been involved in his

smuggling activities in the past.

 

Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said he had instructed officers to gather

all the relevant documents from the Department of Wildlife and National

Parks (Perhilitan) immediately to facilitate investigation into allegations

of special permit abuses.

 

“We will check the background of Wong’s tigers. We will get to the bottom of

this matter.

 

“We are concerned about the reputation of Malaysia being a trafficking hub

and we are doing our best to curb this menace,” he told *The Star *

yesterday.

 

He said Perhilitan had acknowledged that in the 1990s, auctioning of

confiscated specimen was one of the disposal methods but that this practice

had since been stopped.

 

Wong was convicted of trafficking in highly endangered species by the US

government in 2001 and sentenced to 71 months in jail.

 

On Tuesday, the Penang Government demanded to know details of the special

permit and licences issued to Wong over two Bengal tigers.