Snake smuggler jailed after 98 endangered species fall from case

Kuala Lumpur - A notorious and well known trafficker of wild and endangered snakes and reptiles was nabbed at Kuala Lumpur airport after his suitcase opened revealing live reptiles.

He was sentenced on Monday (Sept 6) after his suitcase accidentally opened whilst on a conveyor belt revealing 95 live and endangered boa constrictors along with two rare vipers and a matamata turtle. Anson Wong, 52, a Malaysian had been dubbed the Lizard King had already spent 6 years inside a US jail for trafficking rare and endangered animals and other wildlife. Wong could have received the maximum sentence laid out in Malaysian law of £40,000 fine for each snake and a lengthy jail sentence of 7 years but instead he was given a sentence of 6 months jail and a £40,000 fine which has upset wildlife trade monitoring organisation Traffic. Its spokesman William Schaedla said: “This is a tragedy. The sentence clearly tells wildlife traffickers that they have little to fear from Malaysian law” Sky Strange News http://tinyurl.com/2uwq398 quoted "A notorious wildlife trafficker has been caught trying to smuggle nearly 100 live boa constrictors into Indonesia after his bag broke at an airport."