Cambodia wildlife official faces 145 years in jail for smuggling long-tailed macaques to US
- Masphal Kry, his colleague and six workers linked to a Hong Kong-based firm were accused of exporting wild macaques to the US, falsely labelled as captive bred
- Kry was arrested in New York while travelling to Panama to attend a conference on protecting endangered species
Federal prosecutors have charged eight people with smuggling endangered monkeys, including a Cambodian wildlife official who was arrested in the US while travelling to a conference on protecting endangered species.
The official plus a colleague in that country’s wildlife agency and six people connected to a Hong Kong-based company were involved with breeding long-tailed macaques for scientific and academic research, supplying them to labs in Florida and Texas. But the group is accused of illegally purchasing wild macaques for the business when they lacked supply from their breeding operations.
Long-tailed macaques, sometimes known as crab-eating macaques, are protected under international trade law and special permits are required to import the animals into the US.
Masphal Kry, the deputy director of Wildlife and Biodiversity in Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, was arrested on Wednesday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
Kry, 46, was travelling to Panama to attend an international meeting on regulating trade in endangered species, said a US official on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Omaliss Keo, 58, director general of the Southeast Asian country’s Forestry Administration is also charged in the eight-count indictment, along with the six Vanny employees. Officials didn’t say whether anyone besides Kry had been taken into custody. They each face 145 years in prison.