Fengyi Zhou, a resident of Syosset, New York, and the owner
of a business that specialized in Asian works of art, pleaded guilty today to
illegally trafficking horns from endangered black rhinoceros.
The guilty plea was announced by Assistant Attorney General
John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural
Resources Division and Dan Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS).
Zhou, 49, who has worked as an Asian art dealer for years,
pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge William F. Kuntz II for the
Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, New York, to a one count information
charging him with wildlife trafficking in violation of the Lacey Act.
Zhou was identified as part of “Operation Crash” – a
nationwide effort led by the USFWS and the Justice Department to investigate
and prosecute those involved in the black market trade of rhinoceros horns and
other protected species.
In papers filed in federal court, Zhou admitted to
purchasing as many as five uncarved rhinoceros horns from another Asian arts
dealer in New York. Along with the
horns, Zhou was given an “Endangered Species Bill of Sale,” from which Zhou was
made aware that four of the horns were purchased in Texas and unlawfully
transported to New York. Immediately
after purchasing the rhinoceros horns, Zhou offered to sell and later sold the
horns, to an associate who was a Chinese national residing in the People’s
Republic of China for more than $130,000.
“These horns are the remains of a dead animal, and one of
the world’s most iconic species that will certainly go extinct in our lifetimes
if we do not stop this illegal trafficking,” said Assistant Attorney General
Cruden. “We expect those in the arts and
auction trade to understand and obey the law, and those that do not will be
investigated and prosecuted for these crimes.”
“Because of the
scourge of wildlife trafficking and those like Mr. Zhou who practice it, there
is now a very real possibility that the rhinoceros could disappear from
Africa,” said Director Ashe. “We are
determined that this never happen and that we don’t leave behind for our
children a world without this magnificent wild creature. The law enforcement efforts of Operation
Crash have now seen dozens of rhino traffickers caught and prosecuted, each
case sending a clear message to others engaged in this shameful practice that
we will stop you and we will bring you to justice.”
Rhinoceros are herbivores of prehistoric origin and the largest
remaining mega-fauna on earth. They have
no known predators other than humans.
All species of rhinoceros are protected under United States and
international law. Since 1976, trade in
rhinoceros horn has been regulated under the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over
183 countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife and plants that are or
may become imperiled due to the demands of international markets.
The investigation is continuing and is being handled by the
Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section and USFWS’s Office of Law
Enforcement. The government is
represented by Trial Attorneys Lauren D. Steele and Gary N. Donner of the
Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
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