Malaysian extradited to the US on charges of smuggling rhinoceros horn

• Teo Boon Ching, a 57-year-old Malaysian national, was detained in Thailand in June.
• He is accused of specializing in the smuggling of rhino horns from African poaching operations.
• Rhinoceros horns have a market value of more than $725,000.

The US Department of Justice has announced that a suspected wildlife trafficker from Malaysia has been extradited to the country on suspicion of taking part in a plot to traffic more than 70kg (154lbs) of rhinoceros horns, which have a market value of more than $725,000.

Teo Boon Ching, a 57-year-old Malaysian national, was detained in Thailand in June and extradited to the US on Friday, where he will now face trial, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York

Teo was accused by the Department of Justice of specializing in the smuggling of rhino horns from African poaching operations to consumers, especially in Asia, despite his claims that he could send rhinoceros horns to the US.

He is charged in the US with two counts of money laundering and one count of conspiring to deal in wildlife.

According to a statement from the Justice Department, the trafficking conspiracy charge carries a possible sentence of five years in prison and the money laundering charge a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

It was unclear at the time if Teo had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

For accused of “cruel trafficking” and dealing in the “products of savage poaching,” the US Treasury Department earlier on Friday imposed sanctions against Teo, his alleged transnational criminal organization, and a Malaysian company.

According to Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury Department for financial and terrorism intelligence, wildlife trafficking poses a threat to conservation efforts and “global security.”

The Treasury Department claimed in a statement that Teo Boon Ching “specializes in the transportation of rhino horn, ivory, and pangolins from Africa, often employing routes through Malaysia and Laos and onward to clients in Vietnam and China.”

Teo Boon Ching “has eluded justice and continued to conduct his criminal transportation operation despite being publicly linked to the illicit wildlife trade for years,” the government claimed.

The department’s penalties bar Teo and others from accessing any real estate or financial assets kept in the US and forbid US companies and residents from doing business with them.

For endangered animals, Southeast Asia is a significant source as well as a major market.

This week, authorities in Singapore confiscated an $830,000 shipment of rhino horn, the largest ever haul.

20 pieces of horn weighing a combined 34kg (75lbs) were found in two pieces of luggage on Tuesday at Singapore Changi Airport, according to the National Parks Board of Singapore.

Sniffer dogs discovered the contraband, which belonged to a traveler going from South Africa to Laos.

The International Convention on the Trading in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) protects rhinos and prohibits the trade in rhino horns internationally.

In some regions of Asia, rhino horns are regarded as status symbols and are said to offer therapeutic benefits.

More than 2,700 rhinos were poached in Africa between 2018 and 2021, according to the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with 90% of the killings occurring in South Africa, primarily in the Kruger National Park.

Most rhinos in the world—nearly 80%—live in South Africa.

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