The truth will come out soon.
Good luck with your smear campaign.
If I have ever sold an illegal animal from SA to anybody on this forum, then please raise your hands gentlemen.
If I have ever smuggled anything illegally out of SA, then please raise your hands gentlemen.
Good luck.
I hope conservation sees this too.
My doors are open for any investigation.
Send my regards to your business associates which are mentioned in the post below Craig.
That was in 1997, we are in the year 2010 now and little has changed it seems.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR
THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 1997 (202) 514-2008
TDD (202) 514-1888
GERMAN AUTHORITIES ARREST REPTILE SMUGGLING
RINGLEADER AND COHORT
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- German authorities arrested two men, one
of whom is wanted under a grand jury indictment in the United
States, for their roles in an international reptile smuggling ring,
the Justice Department announced today. The arrests are the result
of an international cooperative law enforcement effort involving
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Justice,
and authorities in Germany and Canada.
Frank H. Lehmeyer, 34, of Speyer, Germany, who the U.S.
indictment alleged is the ring leader of the smuggling operation,
and a second German national were arrested yesterday by German law
enforcement agents.
The investigation leading to today's arrests was initiated by
undercover agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Their
investigation revealed an international smuggling ring that
smuggled hundreds of rare and endangered tortoises and snakes out
of Madagascar into Germany, and then from Germany to the United
States and Canada where they were sold to wildlife dealers and
private collectors. The commercial value of the animals smuggled
in this conspiracy was estimated at more than $250,000.
"This kind of international law enforcement cooperation
demonstrates to those who would engage in illegal wildlife
trafficking that they will be caught, and they will be prosecuted",
said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.
"Trafficking in rare and endangered species violates laws around
the world and it will not be tolerated."
In August 1996, a federal grand jury in Orlando issued an
eighteen count indictment against six individuals for their roles
in the smuggling operation. Three of the six individuals are
citizens of Germany who were not apprehended in the United States,
two of whom remain at large. Two others were arrested and
prosecuted last year in the United States, and one other is being
held by Canadian authorities. The second German arrested yesterday
was not named in the August indictment.
In an effort to round up all the individuals under indictment,
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with the assistance of the
Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, provided to
German authorities the information obtained from the undercover
investigation. German authorities responded by establishing a
joint task force involving several police and customs authorities
to further investigate. The two men were arrested yesterday after
the task force investigation uncovered evidence of violations of
German as well as U.S. laws.
Cooperative efforts also are ongoing with Canadian
authorities. Extradition proceedings were initiated by the U.S.
Department of Justice, against Enrico Joseph Truant, 31, of
Windsor, Ontario, Canada, one of the six indicted last August. On
June 4, 1997, Canadian authorities arrested Truant, who is
currently awaiting extradition hearings.
Two of the six individuals indicted by the federal grand jury
were arrested in the United States and pleaded guilty in October
1996. Wolfgang Michael Kloe, 33, of Rauenberg, Germany, was
sentenced to 46 months in jail and fined $10,000 for his role in
the multi-year conspiracy. Simon David Harris, 25, of Blairgowrie,
South Africa, was sentenced to three years probation for his role
in smuggling 61 Madagascan Tree Boas and four Spider Tortoises that
he had concealed in a suitcase on flight from Frankfurt, Germany to
Orlando, on August 13, 1996.
The animals smuggled during the course of the conspiracy
include more than 120 Madagascan Tree Boas, 25 Spider Tortoises, 50
Radiated Tortoises and six Madagascan Ground Boas. The Radiated
Tortoise is classified as endangered under the Endangered Species
Act. All of the species are protected by an international treaty,
known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fuana and Flora or CITES.
###
97-254
Please take the time to read the following regarding my views on smuggling.
https://venomland.forumotion.com/other-elapids-f41/hemachatus-haemachatus-my-jewels-from-south-africa-kokstad-t1762.htm
Fri 17 Sep - 2:55
