Snake Smuggler Jailed Over Boas In Baggage

5:09pm UK

Monday September 06, 2010

Andy Winter

Sky News Online

A notorious wildlife trafficker has been caught trying to smuggle nearly 100 live boa constrictors into Indonesia after his bag broke at an airport.

The snakes were found in Anson Wong's bag

Malaysian Anson Wong - nicknamed the Lizard King - was stopped by security officials at Kuala Lumpur airport after his luggage split open on a conveyer belt.

As well as 95 live endangered boa constrictors, two rhinoceros vipers and a matamata turtle were also found inside his bag.

Wong has now been jailed for six months and fined $40,000 - but campaigners have denounced the sentence as a "tragedy".

Two rhinoceros vipers and a matamata turtle were also discovered

The 52-year-old could have been locked up for seven years and faced fines of $40,000 per snake.

He has already served a 71-month prison term in the United States for trafficking wildlife.

William Schaedla of Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring organisation, said: "(The sentence) clearly tells wildlife traffickers that they have little to fear from Malaysian law.

"This is a tragedy."

LINK TO PICTURES

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