Asia's Wildlife Trade

http://ngm.nationalgeographic....ildlife/christy-text


The Kingpin
An exposé of the world's most notorious wildlife dealer, his special government friend, and his ambitious new plan
By Bryan Christy
Photograph by Mark Leong

On September 14, 1998, a thin, bespectacled Malaysian named Wong Keng Liang walked off Japan Airlines Flight 12 at Mexico City International Airport. He was dressed in faded blue jeans, a light-blue jacket, and a T-shirt emblazoned with a white iguana head. George Morrison, lead agent for Special Operations, the elite, five-person undercover unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was there to greet him. Within seconds of his arrest, Anson (the name by which Wong is known to wildlife traffickers and wildlife law enforcement officers around the world) was whisked downstairs in handcuffs by Mexican federales, to be held in the country's largest prison, the infamous Reclusorio Norte.

To Morrison and his team, Anson Wong was the catch of a lifetime—the world's most wanted smuggler of endangered species. His arrest, involving authorities in Australia,Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United States, was a hard-won victory, the culmination of a half-decade-long undercover operation still widely considered the most successful international wildlife investigation ever.

(continues for 15 pages... read the rest and see photos using the link above)

Great article.
Almost like reading a thriller novel, unfortunately it's all factual.

The tentacles of such gangs reach India also..per rough estimate poaching in India say for the last 30 odd years amounted to to Rs 900 Crore or $200 Mil approx..India could have earned quite a bit of this money by legalizing hunting auctioning licenses and paid for its conservation efforts and local economy.

Too true ! And have more animals in the end !