Anson Wong's wife case up for mention May 8

Photo source: TRAFFIC

BALIK PULAU: The magistrate's court fixed May 8 for mention in the case involving Cheah Bing Shee, the wife of notorious wildlife trafficker Anson Wong, for allegedly keeping five protected elongated tortoises without a special permit.

Magistrate Muhammad Najib Ismail fixed the date for the case which was mentioned in his court in the absence of Sessions Court judge Caroline Bee Majanil, who was away.

Cheah, who is also the manager of Rona Wildlife, along with the company and its director K. Muthukomar, had all been charged in December last year with keeping three protected male elongated tortoises and two protected female elongated tortoises.

They had claimed trial to committing the offences on a private premises at lot 157, Mukim 1, Pantai Acheh, Balik Pulau, about 1.30pm on Nov 24 last year.

The first offence, under Section 68(1)(a) of the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010, carries a maximum RM100,000 fine, three years' jail or both. The second offence, under Section 70(1) of the same Act, carries a maximum RM300,000 fine, maximum 10 years' jail or both.

During proceedings, Ramesh Raj, who appeared for Cheah, Muthukomar and the company, requested further documents from the prosecution. Deputy public prosecutor Charanjit Singh Mahinder Singh prosecuted.

The prosecution of the trio has come on the heels of a year-long investigation by Al Jazeera's Steve Chao into the illegal wildlife trade, with a focus on Wong and Cheah.

Titled Return of the Lizard King, the documentary by Chao on the network's 101 East, infiltrated Wong's network from Madagascar to Thailand, to Indonesia and to Malaysia, uncovering the trade in Radiated tortoises, which are the second most endangered species in Madagascar.

Dubbed the "Pablo Escobar of animal trafficking", Wong has been arrested twice by authorities, and did time behind bars in the US and Malaysia, totalling eight years.

In 1998, Wong was detained by US agents who had lured him to Mexico in an investigation lasting five years. He was later convicted for smuggling endangered species and sentenced to 71 months in jail.

After being released from US prison, Wong's continued involvement in smuggling was confirmed in 2010, when his bag broke open while in transit to Jakarta, revealing 95 boa constrictors.

Wong was later freed in February 2012 without serving the full sentence.

Source: New Straits Times

With Malaysia’s authorities, notorious ‘Lizard King’ a shocking blank (VIDEO)

Anson Wong gets physical when 101 East Presenter, Steve Chao asks him whether he continues to trade in threatened and endangered animals. — Pictures courtesy of Al Jazeera

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 — His wildlife smuggling earned him the title “Lizard King” and led wildlife groups to dub him “public enemy number one”, but the name Anson Wong drew a blank with Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, according to an Al Jazeera reporter on the trail of the convicted smuggler’s comeback.

Steve Chao, a presenter on the “101 East” programme with the international news channel, alleged that Wong continues to operate openly in Penang and holds wildlife trading permits, despite authorities purportedly revoking Wong’s and his family’s permits in 2010, after he was convicted of smuggling endangered snakes.

“Despite being from Penang, he’s never heard of the ‘Lizard King’, which, to us, is quite shocking,” Chao told The Malay Mail Online yesterday in a phone interview, referring to Wong with his popular moniker.

He added that the minister appeared in the dark over sanctions supposedly imposed on Wong’s trade following his conviction.

“We spoke to the natural resources minister, Palanivel. In 2010, when Perhilitan (Department of Wildlife and National Parks) decided that Anson Wong should be stripped of all permits for wildlife, and companies related to wildlife, he said that the decision should be standing today. But according to the paper trail, it is not,” he added.

Far from being kept away from the trade, Chao alleged that the wildlife dealer instead kept exotic animals such rare tortoises, wild cats from North Africa, albino pythons, white and yellow snakes, deadly vipers, and chameleons in stash houses in Penang.

- See more at: themalaymailonline.com

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

Convicted wildlife smuggler Anson Wong, dubbed the ‘Pablo Escobar of wildlife trafficking’, says he paid for his greed

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.

> 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.

More : http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/8/10/starprobe/4489415&sec=starprobe