Members of Smuggling Ring Plead Guilty in Los Angeles to Crimes Relating to Illegal Trafficking of Endangered Rhinoceros Horn

WASHINGTON – Three defendants pleaded guilty today to charges of conspiracy, smuggling, Lacey Act violations, money laundering and tax fraud for their roles in the international illegal trafficking of rhinoceros horn.  All of the defendants were charged in February 2012 as part of “Operation Crash,” a nationwide U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service crackdown on those involved in the black market trade of endangered rhinoceros horn.

 

The guilty pleas were announced by Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice; André Birotte Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California; and Dan Ashe, Director of the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

Vinh Chung “Jimmy” Kha, 49, and Felix Kha, 26, both of Garden Grove, Calif., each pleaded guilty to five felony counts related to their roles in the smuggling conspiracy.  Win Lee Corp., owned by Jimmy Kha, pleaded guilty to two felony counts charging smuggling and Lacey Act trafficking. 

Two other defendants linked to the Khas – J in Zhao Feng, 45, of China and Jarrod Wade Steffen, 32, of Hico, Texas – previously pleaded guilty to federal charges in Los Angeles related to rhino horn trafficking.

 

In their plea agreements, Jimmy and Felix Kha each admitted purchasing White and Black rhinoceros horn in interstate and intrastate commerce, knowing that animals were protected by federal law as endangered and threatened species.  Both defendants stated that they purchased the horns in order to export them overseas to be sold and made into libation cups or traditional medicine.  Both acknowledged making payments to Vietnamese customs officials to ensure clearance of horn shipments sent to that country.  In addition, Jimmy and Felix Kha each admitted to failing to pay income tax owed in 2009 and 2010. 

In an earlier plea agreement, which was filed with the court on Aug. 15, 2012, Feng admitted to fraudulently and knowingly attempting to smuggle a black rhinoceros horn, an endangered species, from the United States to China.  Steffen, who used money provided by the Khas to buy horns for them, pleaded guilty on June 14, 2012, to charges of conspiracy, smuggling, Lacey Act violations and money laundering.

            

“The Khas conspired to violate numerous federal laws, including those enacted by Congress to protect endangered species like the rhinoceros, a species that faces extinction in our time,” said Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno.  “This prosecution and continuing investigation should send a clear message that we will vigorously investigate and prosecute those who are involved in this egregious and illegal trade.”

 

“It is unconscionable that a species as ancient and majestic as the African Black Rhino has been hunted to the brink of extinction by unscrupulous profiteers,” said U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr.  “The rhino horn smuggling ring dismantled by Operation Crash contributed to the soaring increase in the trade of rhino horns both domestically and internationally and this illegal trade leads directly to increased poaching of the species in the wild.  Operation Crash represents a giant step forward in the global fight to save a beautiful species like the Black Rhino from extinction.”

 

“These individuals were interested in one thing and one thing only – making money,” said FWS Director Dan Ashe.  “They didn’t care about the law or about driving a species to the brink of extinction. We will continue to aggressively investigate and pursue traffickers who threaten the future of rhinos and other imperiled species.”

 

Rhinoceros are an herbivore species of prehistoric origin and one of 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, and all black rhinoceros species are endangered.

 

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 170 countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife and plants that are or may become imperiled due to the demands of international markets.  Nevertheless, the demand for rhinoceros horn and black market prices have skyrocketed in recent years due to the value that some cultures have placed on ornamental carvings, good luck charms or alleged medicinal purposes, leading to a decimation of the global rhinoceros population.  As a result, rhino populations have declined by more than 90 percent since 1970.  South Africa, for example, has witnessed a rapid escalation in poaching of live animals, rising from 13 in 2007 to a record 448 rhinos in 2011.  As of Aug. 27, the total for 2012 stood at 339 rhinos, with a predicted loss of 515 by year end if current poaching rates continue.

 

Operation Crash (named for the term used to describe a herd of rhinoceros) is an ongoing effort to detect, deter and prosecute those engaged in the illegal killing of rhinoceros and the unlawful trafficking of rhinoceros horns.  The investigation is being led by the Special Investigations Unit of the FWS Office of Law Enforcement and involves a nationwide task force of FWS special agents focused on rhino trafficking.

 

The first superseding information, plea agreements and statements made during court proceedings document the following facts:

 During the conspiracy, beginning in January 2010 and continuing to February 2012, Felix Kha would contact Steffen and others regarding individuals located throughout the United States who were willing to sell white or black rhinoceros horn.  On various dates, Jimmy Kha met with others who traveled to Long Beach, Calif., from various locations to provide compensation for previous rhinoceros horn purchases and shipments and to provide money to fund future purchases and shipments of rhinoceros horn.  Jimmy and Felix Kha received, bought, sold and facilitated the transportation of black rhinoceros horn, prior to exportation, knowing that such rhinoceros horn was intended for exportation and that it was illegal under U.S. law to do so.  Jimmy Kha paid, on average, between $5,000 to $7,000 per pound of rhinoceros horn.  The black and white rhinoceros horn acquired by the defendants   has a fair market value between, at a minimum, $1 million to $2.5 million.

 Feng attempted to export a black rhinoceros horn, which he had obtained from the Khas,  from the U.S. to China, by concealing the horn at the bottom of a package. The package, which was deposited with the U.S. Postal Service, contained a single black rhinoceros horn concealed under a layer of chocolates, cigarettes, biscuits, candy, sponges and packing materials.  F eng falsely declared on a U.S. Postal Service Customs Declaration that the package contained “handcraft decorations” with a value of $25, “chocolate” with a value of $46, and “candy” with a value of $15.

 As a supplier for the Khas, Steffen bought and mailed dozens of rhino horns to the pair and made at least 10 trips to California to pick up payment and collect money for additional purchases.  On the last of these trips, Transportation and Security Administration officers, acting at the FWS’s request, stopped Steffan and two travel companions at the airport in Long Beach before they boarded their homebound flight and retrieved $337,000 from their luggage.

 

In February 2012 at the time of the arrest of Jimmy and Felix Kha, FWS agents seized, among other items, rhinoceros mounts, rhinoceros horns, an additional $1 million in cash, approximately $1 million in gold ingots, jewelry, watches, precious stones, a 2009 BMW 759 Li Sedan and a 2008 Toyota Forerunner.

 

Jimmy and Felix Kha each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy (maximum penalty of five years in prison), one count of smuggling goods from the United States (maximum penalty of ten years in prison), one count of Lacey Act trafficking (maximum penalty of five years in prison), one count of money laundering (maximum penalty of twenty years in prison), and one count of tax evasion (maximum penalty of five years in prison).  Win Lee Corp. faces additional penalties, including fines totaling up to $1 million. Under the terms of their plea agreements, all of the items recovered from their residence, person, and Jimmy Kha’s business will be forfeited.  In addition, Felix Kha will pay a tax fraud penalty and assessment of approximately $109,000, and Jimmy Kha will pay a tax fraud penalty and assessment of $76,000.

 

Jimmy and Felix are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder on Dec. 10, 2012 at 2:30 p.m.  Feng will be sentenced on Oct. 10, 2012, and Steffen will be sentenced on Oct. 15, 2012.

 

U.S. Attorney Birotte Jr. and Assistant Attorney General Moreno commended FWS and its partners for their outstanding work on this investigation.  Assisting agencies included the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

 

The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph O. Johns and Dennis Mitchell and Shennie Patel, a Trial Attorney with the Environmental Crimes Section, are in charge of the prosecution.

CBP Advises Hunters of New Requirements for Game Fowl as Hunting Season Approaches

San Diego – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are advising hunters who may travel to Mexico for dove or quail hunting of new requirements for their game fowl prior to their return to the United States at a port of entry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Veterinary Services has implemented this new requirement in response to the recent confirmation of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza at commercial poultry production facilities in Mexico. The purpose of these new requirements is to prevent further spread of this virus and to protect U.S. poultry.

Fresh, uncooked, hunter-harvested game bird carcasses brought from Mexico for human consumption are prohibited. If the carcass for human consumption has a fully-cooked appearance, as determined by CBP, it may be allowed. These carcasses are different from hunter-harvested carcasses that are brought as trophies from Mexico.

Hunters wishing to import trophy game fowl taken during a hunting trip in Mexico must have an approved import permit for the birds from USDA’s Office of Veterinary Services. A bulletin advising of the import permit requirement for avian trophies from Mexico can be found at the following link.  

Hunters should declare all game fowl to CBP upon their arrival at a U.S. port of entry and present the USDA Veterinary Services import permit. They are also subject to verification of the import documentation by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer.

For information on Fish and Wildlife Service requirements for bringing game birds from Mexico, please click on the attached link.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

CBP Officers at LAX Seize Exotic Endangered Animal Products Found in Passenger’s Luggage

Los Angeles—U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at Los Angeles International Airport, recently seized seven ivory tusks, one hippopotamus tusk and seven purses made of ostrich, stingray, crocodile and elephant skins inside several suitcases belonging to a U.S. citizen arriving from Europe.

On June 27, CBP officers referred a passenger for a baggage examination. The passenger, a 63-year-old woman, who traveled from Greece via Germany, provided a negative declaration to CBP officers about the items she was bringing into the country. An x-ray examination of the passenger's three suitcases and a large rectangular metal box revealed a tusk-like object in the box that the passenger said was an “elephant tooth” from her deceased uncle’s estate.

CBP officers consulted with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents which confirmed that all 15 items were prohibited from importation under the Endangered Species Act.

CBP officers seized seven ivory tusks, several of which were carved into statues, one hippopotamus tusk, two ostrich-skin purses, one stingray leather purse, a purse made of elephant hide, and three crocodile purses.

“Enforcing laws that protect endangered animal life by aggressively preventing the illegal introduction of these products into the U.S. is one of the many aspects of the CBP border security mission,” said Todd C. Owen, CBP Director of Field Operations in Los Angeles. “CBP enforces hundreds of U.S. regulations for other agencies in addition to immigration and trade laws.”

The CBP primary mission is anti-terrorism. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles, and goods entering the United States, while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel into and out of the United States.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Louisiana Hunting Outfitter Sentenced to Prison for First Felony Conviction for Illegally Hunting Protected Alligators

WASHINGTON – Gregory K. Dupont, 38, of Plaquemine, La., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, La., to serve six months in prison, to be followed by four months in a half-way house and two years of supervised release.  Dupont was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine.  Dupont’s sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson late Thursday, was the first ever felony conviction and prison sentence resulting from the illegal hunting of American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis), in violation of the Lacey Act, the Endangered Species Act, and Louisiana law.

Dupont has owned and operated Louisiana Hunters Inc., a hunting outfitting company, since 2001.  His clients hired him to take them on alligator hunts in Louisiana, and they included out-of-state residents who were required to hunt with a licensed resident alligator hunter.  Dupont took some of the out-of-state clients to hunt alligators on property where he was not authorized to hunt.  On Feb.10, 2012, Dupont pleaded guilty to selling American alligators by providing outfitting and guiding services, knowing the alligators to have been taken illegally, on a hunt in September 2006. 

In 1967, American alligators were listed as an endangered species because the total population size in the United States reached drastically low numbers due to severe poaching and overharvesting.  The conservation effect of this protected status and of the Lacey Act, the Endangered Species Act, and regulations promulgated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state of Louisiana led to the recovery of the size of the American alligator population in the United States, and American alligators were down-listed to threatened status in 1987.  The success of the American alligator conservation program is second only to that of the Bald Eagle.

Because American alligators remain federally protected, alligator hunting is regulated by federal and state rules and regulations, which require, among other things, the tagging of all harvested alligators.  The integrity of the tagging system is crucial to Louisiana’s alligator management program because it enables the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to monitor harvest areas, alligator size and the number of alligators taken.  This system depends in significant part upon the honesty and self-regulation of Louisiana’s licensed hunters for its continued success.

In Louisiana, an allotted number of alligator hide tags are issued to licensed hunters.  Each tag may be used for one alligator only, and Louisiana law requires alligator hunters to hunt only on property for which hide tags are issued.  The areas where alligator hunting is permitted are determined on a yearly basis by wildlife biologists, whose decisions are based on the need to maintain a healthy alligator population.  If hunters poach alligators from areas for which they do not have tags, then the integrity of the entire alligator management system is undermined, thereby threatening Louisiana’s alligator population and alligator industry, which is a significant component of Louisiana’s economy.

According to court documents, Dupont, in violation of law, guided his clients to places in Louisiana, regardless of whether he had tags for the areas, where he hoped his clients would kill trophy-sized alligators so that they would pay him a trophy fee in addition to the guiding fees. 

The case was prosecuted by Shennie Patel and Susan L. Park of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana.  The case was investigated by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Law Enforcement Division and by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement.

Service Members, Families Get Free Pass to National Parks

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2012 – Service members and their families will be able to enter all of America’s national parks free of charge for a year under an initiative announced today.

The pass – the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreation Lands Annual Pass, which normally costs $80 – will become available to service members and their dependents on Armed Forces Day, May 19.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made the announcement this morning, along with National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, at a ceremony at Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, Va., the site of the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. The area surrounding the park hosts installations from all the military services, including the world's largest naval base.

"I think when one goes into Virginia and you see all the sites, the Yorktown battlefield and the whole history of the country, it's important that those who have fought in the tradition of making sure the nation's democracy and freedom are protected also have access to these wonderful sites there," Salazar said yesterday in a conference call with reporters.

The passes allow the holder and passengers in a single private vehicle access to some 2,000 sites that charge per vehicle. At sites where entrance fees are charged per person, it covers the pass owner and three adults age 16 and older.

The National Park Service estimates that giving away the passes to service members and their families will result in a revenue loss between $2 million and $6 million, but Jarvis said that won’t cause a significant impact on the agency, which collects about $150 million in fees each year.

Military personnel can get the passes at any national park or wildlife refuge that charges an entrance fee by showing their military ID. Family members also will be able to obtain their own pass, even if the service member is deployed or if they are traveling separately.

The pass will be accepted at National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Army Corps sites that charge entrance or standard amenity fees.

The free pass will be made available for activated members of the National Guard and reserves, but not for military veterans or retirees, whom Jarvis said have other opportunities for free or reduced admission, such as the National Patrk Service’s “Access Pass” or a seniors pass for those 62 and older.

Jarvis, a 40-year Park Service employee, said that while the free passes are a first, they are representative of the parks’ history with the military, which dates back to the Buffalo Soldiers’ battles with Native Americans in the mid-1800s and the recruitment of former military members to serve as park rangers under the first NPS director, Stephen T. Mather. The Park Service maintains many military historical sites from Gettysburg to Pearl Harbor, and in World War II even closed some parks, such as Mount Rainier in Washington state, to all but active military members, he said.

Right after World War II, the Park Service invested heavily in infrastructure to prepare the parks for returning service members, Jarvis said. Today’s generation of warriors also deserves a deep connection to the parks, he said.

“From my perspective, it is incredibly important to return this group of returning military members to their national parks,” Jarvis said. “Nothing is more core to the American experience than the national parks. These are places for quiet and contemplation and to reconnect to the American experience. And we don’t want there to be any barriers to that.”

The free pass initiative is part of the “Joining Forces” campaign First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, launched last year to rally Americans around supporting service members and their families.

"Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to our servicemen and women who make great sacrifices to protect our country and preserve our freedom," Dr. Biden said in a White House statement. "In recognition of their service, we are so pleased to be putting out a welcome mat for our military families at America's most beautiful and storied sites."