11 Charged in 4 Plots to Smuggle Rare Plants
Eleven people have been charged in four separate plant-smuggling schemes worth more than $840,000, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Arrested were suspects from Australia, South Africa, Mexico and Hong Kong. Some are accused of sending $542,000 worth of protected cycads to the United States from South Africa, Australia and Zimbabwe. Others allegedly used invalid permits to send $300,000 worth of cycads from South Africa.
Two Indonesian suspects, still at large, are charged with shipping packages of rare orchids falsely labeled as toys.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
