Reptile Mail Drop

[Mulboyne]

ABC: Man fined for trying to post reptiles to Japan
A 32-year-old Japanese man has been fined more than $24,500 for trying to smuggle 24 turtles and a lizard out of Western Australia. Kazutaka Ogawa pleaded guilty to putting the animals inside socks and trying to post them to Japan last year. He also admitted trying to send five lizards taken from the Blue Mountains in New South Wales to Japan five years ago. District Court Chief Judge Antoinette Kennedy said the attempted smuggling was for commercial gain and no great care had been taken to protect the harmless animals, many of which died. Ogawa is to be held in custody until the fine is paid.

[Greji]

[url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200508/s1440883.htm][b]
Ogawa is to be held in custody until the fine is paid.

There is a very good chance he'll learn a new place he can hide the lizard while the fellows have him in the slammer!

[homesweethome]

The article said that Ogawa appeared in court with two black eyes and bandages on his face. Are the Australian police playing tit for tat with Japanese citizens now?
Bravo!

[Mulboyne]

AP: A customs official at Brisbane international airport holds two pythons found in a Japanese man's carryon luggage.
News24: Tourist's luggage 'wriggling'
A Japanese man has been arrested and charged with smuggling 39 exotic snakes, turtles and lizards inside plastic containers and speaker boxes, Australian customs said on Tuesday. The 40-year-old man, whose name was not immediately released, arrived at the eastern city of Brisbane on Monday on a flight from Singapore. Customs officials opened the man's carry-on luggage for a routine inspection and "were surprised to see something wriggling", according to a statement released on Tuesday. Inside, authorities found six snakes stored in four clear plastic containers and two shampoo bottles. A search of the rest of the man's luggage uncovered 33 more reptiles, including green tree pythons, albino pythons, iguanas, frilled-neck dragons, slider turtles and tree monitors concealed in speaker boxes and food containers, the statement said...He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a fine of up to A$110 000 if convicted.

[homesweethome]

Get that confession boys, whatever it takes!
Nobody here will cry Crocodile Dandy tears!

[Mulboyne]

Japan Times:

Katsuhide Naito appeared briefly in the Commonwealth Court of the Brisbane Magistrates Court. He was charged with importing regulated live specimens without a permit under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Naito did not enter a plea or apply for bail, possibly due to a language barrier, the spokeswoman said. A translator has been requested and Naito was remanded in custody to reappear in the court on Friday.

[Mulboyne]

AP: Man accused of smuggling rare butterflies into LAX
A Japanese man was arrested upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on charges of smuggling rare and protected butterflies and then trying to sell them, authorities said today. When Hisayoshi Kojima, 55, of Kyoto, was arrested Monday, he was found to be carrying several butterfly specimens, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement...Kojima's arrest culminated a three-year undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service...more...

[Taro Toporific]

AP: Man accused of smuggling rare butterflies into LAX

Mo' betta title...
[SIZE="5"]Bug smuggler buggered[/SIZE]

[Mulboyne]

The West: Man nabbed smuggling monkeys to Japan

A Japanese man has been arrested in Bangkok on suspicion of trying to smuggle a rare monkey species to Japan, according to Thai police. The Thai police identified the suspect as Takashi Yokohari, 36, a resident of Saitama Prefecture. Yokohari allegedly tried to board a flight to Narita airport from Suvarnabhumi airport with nine slow loris, or nycticebus coucang, in five suitcases on Friday, the police said. Exports of the rare primate are banned without authorisation. "I bought them at a market in Bangkok. I planned to keep them as pets," in Japan, he was quoted as telling the police. If convicted, Yokohari could face a four-year prison term or 40,000 baht ($A1,436) fine, Thai authorities said.

[Taro Toporific]

Japanese butterfly smuggler gets 21 months in prison in LA
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 13:55 EDT, JapanToday
LOS ANGELES ---A Japanese man was sentenced to 21 months in prison at the federal district court in Los Angeles for smuggling numerous endangered butterfly species to the United States, the U.S. Attorney's office said Monday. Hisayoshi Kojima, 57, from Kyoto, was also ordered to pay a $30,000 fine and $7,656 in restitution to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which investigated the case.....

AP: Man accused of smuggling rare butterflies into LAX
A Japanese man was arrested upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on charges of smuggling rare and protected butterflies and then trying to sell them, authorities said today. When Hisayoshi Kojima, 55, of Kyoto, was arrested Monday, he was found to be carrying several butterfly specimens, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement...Kojima's arrest culminated a three-year undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service...more...

[Mulboyne]