![]() “Teo Boon Ching specialises in the transportation of rhino horn, ivory, and pangolins from Africa, generally utilizing routes through Malaysia and Laos and onward to consumers in Vietnam and China,” the Treasury Department alleged in a statement. Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said the US viewed wildlife trafficking as a threat to conservation and “global security”. The US Treasury Department had earlier on Friday announced sanctions on Teo, his alleged transnational criminal organisation, and a Malaysian firm for alleged “cruel trafficking” and trading in the “products of brutal poaching”. Officials in Thailand arrange seized elephant tusks to be displayed before destruction in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2015 It was not immediately clear if Teo was represented by a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. The money laundering charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and the trafficking conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years’ imprisonment, the Justice Department said in a statement. □ Black rhinos by Kark Strohmayer/USFWS /qdhsURhJsX International Wildlife Trafficker Charged in the Southern District of New York: Teo Boon Ching, a/k/a “Godfather,” was charged for participating in a conspiracy to traffic more than 70 kilograms of rhinoceros horns. ![]() In the US, he faces one count of conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and two counts of money laundering. The Department of Justice alleged that Teo had specialised in the smuggling of rhino horns from poaching operations in Africa to customers primarily in Asia, though he had also claimed to be able to ship rhinoceros horns to the US. ![]() The suspect, Malaysian national Teo Boon Ching, 57, was arrested in Thailand in June and extradited to the US on Friday where he will now stand trial, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a statement. An alleged Malaysian wildlife trafficker has been extradited to the United States on charges of participating in a conspiracy to traffick more than 70kg (154lbs) of rhinoceros horns valued at more than $725,000, the US Department of Justice has said.
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