Guan Zong Chen (“Graham Chen”), a Chinese national was
arraigned today in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts on charges that he
led a conspiracy to illegally export (smuggle) $700,000 worth of wildlife items
made from rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral from the United States to
Hong Kong. Chen was arrested last year when he traveled from China to Australia
and today’s hearing was his first court appearance on an indictment returned by
a Boston grand jury in 2015 and unsealed in anticipation of the hearing.
According to the eight-count indictment, Chen purchased the
wildlife artifacts at U.S. auction houses located in California, Florida, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New York and Texas. He conspired with another Chinese national, a
recent college graduate in China to travel to the United States to pick up the
purchased items and either hand carry or arrange for them to be mailed to
another co-conspirator that owned a shipping business in Concord,
Massachusetts. The shipper then repacked the wildlife items and exported
(smuggled) them to Hong Kong with documents that falsely stated their contents
and value and without obtaining required declarations and permits. In April
2014, Chen visited the United States and visited the shipper in Concord,
Massachusetts. During the visit with the shipper, CHEN instructed the shipper
to illegally export (smuggle) a sculpture made from elephant ivory to Hong Kong
on Chen’s behalf and falsely declared it to be made of wood and worth $50.
The unsealing of the indictment and court appearance were
was announced today by Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood of the
Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Acting U.S.
Attorney William D. Weinreb of the District of Massachusetts. In announcing the
case today, Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood and Acting U.S. Attorney
Weinreb expressed their appreciation to the Australian Federal Police and the
Australian Attorney-General’s Department for their help in apprehending Chen
and extraditing him to the United States.
Trade in rhinoceros horn, elephant ivory and coral have been
regulated since 1976 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over 175 countries
around the world to protect fish, wildlife, and plants that are or may become
imperiled due to the demands of international markets. Animals listed under
CITES cannot be exported from the United States without prior notification to,
and approval from, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
was apprehended as part of Operation Crash, an ongoing
effort by the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service, in
coordination with the Department of Justice to detect, deter, and prosecute
those engaged in the illegal killing of and trafficking in protected species
including rhinoceros and elephants.
An indictment contains allegations that crimes have been
committed. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt.
The investigation is continuing and is being handled by the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement and the Justice
Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, with assistance from the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and support on the
extradition from DOJ's Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Marshals
Services in the District of Massachusetts. The government is represented by
Senior Litigation Counsel Richard A. Udell and Trial Attorney Gary N. Donner of
the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and
Natural Resources Division.
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