Agents Arrest Reptile Dealer in Trade Sting

Anson Wong, reputed godfather of black-market dealers in endangered lizards, tortoises and snakes, thought he was going to Acapulco to meet some San Francisco entrepreneurs with big plans for the rare creature trade.

But the Americans were federal agents, and it was Wong, not his menagerie, they were after.

The Justice Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday announced Wong’s arrest as part of Operation Chameleon, a four-year sting aimed at a $6-billion annual trade that wildlife advocates say is robbing the planet of some of its most fragile biological resources.

“Greed drives this whole thing,” said Craig Hoover, who monitors the animal trade for the World Wildlife Fund. “The smugglers are looking for thousands of dollars per animal. And the people buying them want to be able to say: ‘I’ve got something nobody else has.’ ”

Wong, 40, a politically connected Malaysian businessman who runs a big reptile park in his homeland, was arrested Monday as he stepped off a flight in Mexico City. Anson is his nickname; his real name is Keng Liang Wong.

Suspect Faces 51-Count Indictment

Wong is being held by Mexican police pending his extradition to San Francisco, where he faces a 51-count federal indictment alleging conspiracy, smuggling, money laundering, lying to the government and violating wildlife laws.

“He is probably the biggest illegal reptile dealer in the world,” said Hoover. Of the alleged crimes, money laundering carries the stiffest penalty, up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

The traffic in protected species is undermining global conservation efforts. International treaties are supposed to tightly restrict which animals can be sold and who can buy them. But in many countries, local police can be bribed, allowing smugglers to operate unimpeded. In most cases, the smugglers’ ultimate goal is to ship to the United States, the biggest market for exotic fauna. But many animals die during shipment.

The Justice Department said that two alleged accomplices of Wong, James Michael Burroughs of San Francisco and Beau Lee Lewis of Buckeye, Ariz., were arrested separately in the United States. A third suspect, Oscar Shiu of Hong Kong, is still being sought. Justice Department officials said that neither man had yet entered a plea in the case.

An 83-page federal indictment charges that, beginning in 1996, Wong and his accomplices sold 300 endangered animals worth nearly half a million dollars, to PacRim Enterprises, an undercover business that the government set up in the San Francisco area.

Among the animals were fierce Komodo dragons from the islands of Indonesia, worth $30,000 apiece, critically endangered plowshare tortoises from Madgascar, also worth $30,000 each, Chinese alligators valued at $15,000 each and a false gavial, a fish-eating crocodile from Southeast Asia that was valued at $5,000.

The animals are evidence in the case and are being kept for the government by various zoos, federal employees and private collectors.

Some of the creatures were concealed in shipments of other animals that could be legally imported.

“Inspectors don’t want to dig around in a box of 200 critters that could get loose,” said Ernest Mayer, a lead wildlife agent on the case. “You’d have to run around and catch them, and some of them could bite you.”

Federal Express Used to Ship Animals

In other cases, the ring shipped the creatures via Federal Express, labeling packages as books or gifts. Mayer said the company was chosen because many of the species are highly perishable, and quick delivery was essential.

The Federal Express connection was run by Lewis, he said. Though Federal Express itself is not a target of the investigation, Mayer said that some employees may be.

Finally, Mayer said, Burroughs brought some of the animals into the United States in checked baggage aboard regularly scheduled airline flights.

Most of the animals were babies. “You don’t try to smuggle a full-grown, seven-foot live Komodo dragon,” Mayer said.

Of all the animals, the plowshare tortoises from Madgascar--an island off the East African coast--were the biggest concern for environmentalists and law enforcement officials. These tortoises get their name from a hard spike that looks like a tail. Male plowshares use the spike to flip each other during battles. Fewer than 400 are estimated to survive in the wild.

About two years ago, thieves struck a plowshare breeding program on Madagascar, making off with two female tortoises and scores of hatchlings. Among conservation groups, the heist was akin to the theft of a Van Gogh painting. Mayer said investigators want to know whether any of the tortoises allegedly sold by Wong were stolen from the hatchery.

Mayer said Wong was extremely reluctant to meet with the agents posing as businessmen. He would not come to the United States because he is still wanted in a 1992 smuggling case in Florida. He was lured by a business proposition involving expanded trade in all sorts of animals.

The clincher was the choice of Acapulco, and the fact that the feds sprang for half the air fare.

“You’ve got to be creative,” said Mayer. “He just thought he was going to come and have a good time.”