Jailing of ‘Godfather’ Teo seen as major blow to illegal wildlife trade

Free Malaysia Today

A 58-year-old Malaysian imprisoned in the US last month was described as being at the centre of trafficking in rhinoceros horns, elephant ivory and pangolin scales.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2023/10/02/jailing-of-godfather-teo-seen-as-major-blow-to-illegal-wildlife-trade/  Laporan Lanjut:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/tempatan/2023/10/02/pemenjaraan-godfather-teo-tamparan-besar-bagi-pemerdagangan-haram-hidupan-liar/  Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com Follow FMT on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2Rn6xEV Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM Follow FMT on Twitter: http://bit.ly/2OCwH8a  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2OKJbc6 Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3cpbWKK Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/2VUfOrv Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/3B1e8lN Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/39dBDbe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download FMT News App: Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46 App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP  #FMTNews #TeoBoonChing #Jailed #WildlifeTrafficking

Transcript

00:00 A 58-year-old Malaysian who was known as a godfather in the illegal wildlife trade was

00:07 sentenced to prison last month.

00:10 This marks the conclusion of a 20-year-long operation involved in the trafficking in rhinoceros

00:15 horns, elephant ivory and pangolin scales on a global scale.

00:21 US authorities who identified Teo Boon Ching by several aliases, including Chang, Datuk

00:28 Sri and Godfather, characterised him as a participant in a global conspiracy engaged

00:33 in extensive wildlife trafficking.

00:37 According to the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency, Teo specialised in trafficking

00:42 and smuggling rhinoceros horns, elephant ivory and pangolin scales to clandestine markets

00:48 with the illegal goods fetching exorbitant prices.

00:52 The EIA said Teo played a key role in logistics and helping to conceal and pack the goods

00:58 for several criminal networks, which smuggled the contraband items into Asia through Malaysian

01:03 ports.

01:04 Teo was arrested in Thailand in 2015 for possession of 135kg of ivory, but only received a fine.

01:13 However, seven years later, he was again detained by Thai authorities in June 2022 and extradited

01:20 to the US four months later.

01:23 Teo has pleaded guilty in the US District Court in New York to one charge of conspiracy

01:27 to commit wildlife trafficking of at least 219kg of rhinoceros horns with an estimated

01:34 value of about US$2 million.

01:37 He was sentenced to 18 months jail.

01:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]

Transcript

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