Smuggler's bag bursts open at airport... to reveal 95 live snakes

 

 

By Mail Foreign Service

Last updated at 8:54 AM on 3rd September 2010

 

• Comments (11)
  
• Add to My Stories
  

 

Keng Liang Wong's bag contained 95 live boa constrictors, as well as a few other snakes and a turtle (file picture)

 

 

A Malaysian man admitted wildlife smuggling after his bag bursting with 95 live boa constrictors broke open on a luggage conveyor belt at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

 

Keng Liang 'Anson' Wong, 52, who was previously convicted of wildlife trafficking in the US, was charged on Wednesday in a district court with exporting the endangered boas without a permit, said Shamsuddin Osman of Malaysia's wildlife department.

 

The offence carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison and a fine.

 

Wong was arrested on August 26 after airport authorities found the boa constrictors, together with a few other snakes and a turtle, when his bag broke open on a luggage conveyor belt.

 

Wong was on his way from Malaysia's northern Penang state to Indonesia's capital Jakarta.

 

The court will reconvene on Monday pending Wong's appointment of a lawyer, Shamsuddin said.

 

He said the criminal charges involve the boas only, because the other animals are not listed as endangered. All of the animals are alive and under the care of wildlife officials, Mr Shamsuddin said.

 

A decade ago Wong was sentenced to almost six years in prison in the US for running an animal-smuggling ring that prosecutors said imported and sold more than 300 protected reptiles native to Asia and Africa from 1996 until Wong's arrest in Mexico in 1998. It is unclear whether he served the full term.

 

Activists say the illegal wildlife trade used to flourish in Malaysia until the country recently stepped up efforts to crack down on it.

 

In July parliament passed a new law to punish poachers and smugglers more severely, but the act has not yet taken effect.

What type of Boa?, the one in the picture is a common Boa Constrictor and certainly isn't endangered at all.

What type of Boa?, the one in the picture is a common Boa Constrictor and certainly isn't endangered at all.

 

How do you know? Are you a reptile expert?:rolleyes:

How do you know? Are you a reptile expert?:rolleyes:

 

 

Seeing as I have one like in the picture as a pet and know quite alot about them, I think I'm qualified to know a Common Boa Constrictor when I see one.

^schooled

Seeing as I have one like in the picture as a pet and know quite alot about them, I think I'm qualified to know a Common Boa Constrictor when I see one.

 

OK, keep your hair on!:dozey:

It may help if you didn't assume everyone except the Daily Mail holds no knowledge and post the typically arrogant :rolleyes: emoticon.

It may help if you didn't assume everyone except the Daily Mail holds no knowledge and post the typically arrogant :rolleyes: emoticon.

 

It would help even more if you didn't assume things that were completely erroneous.:rolleyes:

As far as I'm aware, there's nothing arrogant about ":rolleyes:" whatsoever. It's just a harmless smiley.:rolleyes:

The way you interpret it is your problem.:dozey:

I pointed out they had their facts wrong, which in the case of using that picture they did, the overuse of :rolleyes: by you can be arrogant as you assume you or your beloved paper can't be wrong.

No I'm not a reptile expert but when it comes to Boa Constrictors I clearly know a great deal more than yourself or the Daily Mail.

I pointed out they had their facts wrong, which in the case of using that picture they did, the overuse of :rolleyes: by you can be arrogant as you assume you or your beloved paper can't be wrong.

No I'm not a reptile expert but when it comes to Boa Constrictors I clearly know a great deal more than yourself or the Daily Mail.

 

I believe you're taking it all way too seriously. As I said, if you wish to interpret the ":rolleyes:" as arrogant, that's up to you, but you're wrong.;)

I think you'll find newspapers use incorrect "stock" photos pretty often, but I don't think that really matters.

If you are in fact a snake expert, then congrats!:P